Cox was working at height on a suspended catwalk platform when a hoist failed and the platform dropped from beneath him. His safety harness broke during the fall and he plunged to his death.
An inquest into his death in the UK had to be adjourned last year and the senior coroner blamed the Qatari authorities for their lack of co-operation in helping with the court’s inquiry.
Senior coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley told the Brighton and Hove Coroner’s Court: “Having adjourned the inquest once from the first pre-inquest review, we are 10 months on from his death and despite a lot of inquiries taking place, I have not got any further information from Qatar itself.
“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not been able to provide us with any information either.
“I haven’t been able to get the post-mortem examination, which doesn’t matter as I have my own, but it indicates I do not have the information … but I still have to hold the inquest.”
Qatar’s treatment of construction workers has come under fierce criticism in the lead-up to the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Estimates for the number of migrant workers who have died constructing buildings for the World Cup range from the hundreds to more than 1,000.
Meanwhile, an international charity, which just months ago accused the Qatari authorities of putting workers' lives in danger, has been accused of whitewashing human rights abuses in the Gulf state in a press release on its annual World Report.
Human Rights Watch’s press release cited the apparent unblocking of the independent news site Doha News.
However, the site’s former editor-at-large, Victoria Scott, told Buzzfeed that this was not the case and Doha News was blocked for most people in Qatar.
“It seems strange that HRW would even consider this worthy of a mention in their report – if it had happened, which of course, it hasn’t yet,” Ms Scott told Buzzfeed.
Qatar’s bid for the World Cup has been mired in controversy. The claims include the broadcaster beIN, months before the December 2010 vote, agreeing to pay Fifa US$100 million (Dh3.67m) if the country was successful in the vote.
