Building site death fine of £75k set to go unpaid

But the fine is not expected to be paid as it was Hurel Ltd, the shell of the former RG Falla Ltd and a company in voluntary liquidation, which faced the count of breaching health and safety at work legislation.

In May 2018, Barry Challen, 50, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, was helping to install equipment at the Co-op Locale store on the Bridge when a large refrigeration display cabinet fell on him.

He was severely injured and died in a UK hospital four days later.

RG Falla, as main contractor, had denied failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees and non-employees.

In September it was acquitted unanimously of the breach in respect for employees, but found guilty by a majority verdict in respect of non-employees.

The trial had been due to start in March, but was postponed due to the illness of an advocate.

The court had been notified four days before that the defendant company had gone in to voluntary liquidation. Its assets had been sold to another firm and employees transferred across.

Hurel was not represented at trial but was kept aware of proceedings by the court.

Judge Catherine Fooks said the fact that the company had gone into voluntary liquidation was significant.

While there was nothing to suggest that that was case here, voluntary liquidation should not been seen as a way for a company to avoid prosecution for breaching health and safety legislation, she said.

There had to be an element of deterrence in the sentence and it was in the public interest that a fine reflected the size of the company as it was when the offence was committed.

The trial heard how nobody from RG Falla had been on site at the time of the accident.

There was no safety plan for the project, nor coordination of sub-contractors.

There was a generic risk assessment by the UK supplier of the refrigerators but it was not site-specific, and there was no input from RG Falla.

The accident happened when one of the temporary wheels that had been fitted to the bottom of the refrigerator became stuck between boards on the floor and the unit toppled over, crushing Mr Challen in the process.

The boards were not fixed together and the floor surface was uneven.

The trial found there was no deliberate breach of the legislation or any attempt to cut corners to save money.

Mr Challen’s employer, who was acquitted of the same charges, acknowledged that he was an experienced worker and should not have carried on working in the circumstances.