A wind gust nearly strong enough to “blow you off your feet” struck when scaffolding crushed a father watching his son play soccer, a coroner has been told.

Andy Jones died after a 2.4m scaffolding tower collapsed and pinned the 37-year-old against a fence at the under-15s match at Mitchelton in Brisbane’s inner north on July 25, 2021.

Almost five years later, his widow Rhianne and extended family members gathered at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday for the start of the three-day inquest into the tragedy.

Jones suffered crushing chest injuries when the tower fell after a howling wind gust, coroner Megan Fairweather was told.

Multiple club volunteers and officials told the inquest it was the windiest playing conditions they had seen at the ground.

Gusts that traditionally impact Brisbane before the Royal Queensland Show or Ekka were present at the ground before the tragedy, volunteer coach Jason Gouge said.

“I described it as being a windy winter’s day, when those westerly winds are incoming before the Ekka,” he told the inquest.

However, a severe wind gust caught everyone off guard about 12.25pm, he said.

“It was nearly enough to blow you off your feet, or push you forward if you were light on your feet, and it was strong enough to blow over the scaffolding,” Gouge said.

Michael Mills was watching his son play when the wind began to make a howling noise, the coroner heard.

“I think I called out ‘watch out’ … Andy was probably about two metres to our left, in the centre of the scaffolding,” he said.

Witnesses told the inquest the scaffolding tower had been placed in a thoroughfare at the ground, with no restrictions on pedestrian access.

The local league had provisions to call off games in the event of thunderstorm activity, excessive heat and humidity but not wind, the court was told.

The scaffolding had been erected by Mobile Scaffolds Queensland on April 13 2021 to replace another that had been covered with graffiti, the coroner heard.

Football Queensland, the governing body which oversaw Mitchelton Football Club, had directed that scaffolding be erected at all games for filming and live-streaming games.

Kieren Jones, who examined the incident when he worked as a Workplace Heath and Safety Queensland senior investigator, said he recommended it be referred to the Office of Industrial Relations for prosecution on March 18, 2022.

Mobile Scaffolds Queensland was fined $400,000 by the regulator in October 2024, after the company had been placed into liquidation.

The company’s former owner Chris Sweedman is set to give evidence at the inquest.