Sewell yesterday heard conflicting reports on his ability to handle the crane which crushed him to death during the building of Bull's Head car park.

The differing opinions came from Mr. Sewell's father, Alfred Sewell, and from Mr. Sewell's brother, Rudy Sewell.

Between them, Alfred and Rudy Sewell have 67 years of experience operating cranes in Bermuda. The father has 53 years, 41 of them with Sea-Land, while Rudy Sewell has 14 years at Sea-Land.

Neither are "certified''; but it appears no crane operator in Bermuda is "certified''.

Operators in Bermuda learn the trade through on-the-job training, it was said several times yesterday.

Alfred Sewell is arguably the Island's senior crane operator.

"I started teaching him (Teddy) to operate the cranes,'' he said.

He told the inquest that he had seen his son operate the crane which was used at Bull's Head.

"Teddy has used all the cranes at Sea-Land. I felt Teddy handled the lifts at all times.'' On the day he died, November 2, 1995, Mr. Sewell was operating an 18-ton crane attempting to lift a container and its contents from a truck. The crane toppled crushing him between the crane's cab and the bonnet of the tractor trailer offloading the container.

Sea-Land has a range of cranes from 15 tons to 70 tons.

Lawyer Dennis Dwyer, representing Mrs. Giselle Sewell, the wife of the deceased, asked Mr. Sewell if his son had any difficulty operating the 18-ton crane.

Mr. Sewell replied: "No. He was good as far as I'm concerned.'' But the deceased's brother, Rudy Sewell, who also received training from his father, portrayed his brother in a different light.

Rudy Sewell said his brother was more a mechanic and "lacked sufficient experience on heavy loads''.

He said at the Bull's Head site that his brother had "made the lift without the crane set up level'' which can cause the boom to swing.

There was a slight uphill, or front to back, grade, he said.

He also said that blocks had not been used to level the crane.

Asked by Coroner Edward King if the grade at the Bull's Head site was sufficient that "any operator would see that blocks were needed'', Mr. Sewell answered yes.

The inquest also heard that the crane Teddy Sewell was operating had in the past exhibited a problem with the front ride side stabilisers.

Alvin DeRosa, called at the inquest, operated the same crane prior to 1991 and said that its front right side stabilisers "had a tendency to come out on their own''.

But Mr. DeRosa, who now works for Island Construction & Landscaping Services, said after 1991 he had no contact with the crane. He said it could lift more than its rated 18 tons, about 42,000 pounds.

Sea-Land site supervisor Peter Vosvenieks said he gave Mr. Sewell the weight of the container to be lifted at Bull's Head. Mr. Vosvenieks, as well as Sea-Land Construction owner Andrew Cooper have been charged in connection with the accident.

One of the charges Mr. Cooper faces is allowing the use of a crane that had not been inspected within the past 12 months.

The crane's log book, submitted by Sea-Land head mechanic Gilbert Reed yesterday, showed the crane had been inspected weekly on at least three occasions in November of 1995 -- after the accident.

Mr. Reed said the crane used at Bull's Head was the "best crane we have''.

In a statement read by coroner's officer Sgt. Donald Grant, Charles Barnard, the driver who transported the 4,000-pound container and its 16,000 pounds of construction site materials to Bull's Head, said that moments before Mr.

Sewell lost consciousness, he screamed "my leg, oh my leg''.

At the inquest, pathologist Dr. John Winwick read out the 23 injuries sustained by Mr. Sewell.

Mr. Sewell's trapped 5-foot, 11-inch frame sustained extensive chest injuries as well as a broken femur and it was estimated that ten to 15 minutes after the crane toppled he lost consciousness.

One worker at the scene, Harrison Isaac, told the inquest that he saw blood coming from Mr. Sewell's left shoulder and chest, and it then bubbled from his mouth.

"Not too good, get me out, I don't want to die,'' he said Mr. Sewell told him.