Mr Farr had taken his three year old daughter to the store

Kenneth Farr, 37, from Penarth, south Wales, died when the metal gate smashed through his windscreen in May 2002.

The barrier at the Cardiff store was seen to be loose on the day he died.

The inquest heard an Asda store in the West Midlands was convicted of failing to maintain its barrier and of not carrying out a risk assessment.

Mr Farr had taken his three-year-old daughter to buy a garden shed at the Cardiff Bay store when the steel barrier smashed through the windscreen of his Austin Montego car.

It hit him on the head and he was pronounced dead at the University Hospital of Wales, the inquest was told.

Police video footage taken on the day showed the barrier being swayed by powerful winds.

From what I understand the circumstances of the accident were similar to what happened with Mr Farr Environmental health officer Peter Axton

The hearing on Tuesday was told the padlock that was meant to secure the barrier at the store was "inexpensive and of poor quality".

Key expert Malcolm Dowe found the lock, purchased by the store's senior security staff, would sometimes fail.

In his report he said: "An investigation into the padlock found it worked intermittently. On several occasions the lock failed to work which was caused by a lack of lubrication."

The jury also heard that security staff were unaware of their duty to check the barrier every day.

Prosecution

Keith James, a senior environmental health officer, said: "There was a risk assessment signed on May 15 2002 - the day after Mr Farr's death.

"It says the security team checked the barriers daily. When interviewed they were unaware of this."

Asda had been fined over a 'similar' incident to that which killed Mr Farr

The inquest was told that in October 2001, Miles and Alice O'Daley, both aged 80, were taken to hospital when the barrier at Asda's store in Whitchurch, Bristol, struck their windscreen.

Retired police officer Geoffrey Lages, who investigated the incident as part of the inquiry into Mr Farr's death, said: "Alice felt, had she not shouted a warning, the injuries could have been much more serious and perhaps even fatal."

Also, Peter Axton, an environmental health officer with Walsall council, told the inquest of the incident at Asda's Bloxwich store in January 1999, for which the firm was prosecuted.

Fined

He said the security barrier swung through the front windscreen of a passing car and out through a rear side window, causing both occupants cuts, bruises and shock.

The firm later pleaded not guilty to two health and safety charges but was fined at toal of �9,000 and ordered to pay �9,000 costs.

Mr Axton told the inquest: "Asda had claimed the barrier was such an obvious hazard that it didn't need a risk assessment.

"They said that the damage to the padlock which should have held the barrier in place was done by vandals - therefore it was not their fault.

"From what I understand the circumstances of the accident were similar to what happened with Mr Farr."

The inquest continues into the death of Mr Farr, a father-of-three who worked at Panasonic in Pentwyn.