Six years in jal for building boss after fatal fall

Six years in jail for building boss after fatal fall

A construction boss has been jailed for six years after being convicted of gross negligence manslaughter. Two of his employees fell through a roof they were repairing in separate incidents on the same day, with the man who died having also survived a near miss the previous day. Allan Thomson, 49, was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and both he and his company Building and Dismantling Contractors Ltd were found guilty of criminal safety offences at Manchester Crown Court on 3 February 2016. Michael Smith, 52, and his company C Smith and Sons (Rochdale) Ltd, were also convicted of criminal safety breaches. On 8 April 2016, Allan Thompson was jailed was six years, fined £400,000 and was ordered to pay £55,000 court costs. Michael Smith was jailed for eight months, fined £90,000 and ordered to pay £45,000 court costs.

The court heard how C Smith and Sons had won a contract to demolish the Harvey’s and Carpetright buildings in Stockport in 2014. It was originally planned to remotely bring down the structure using machinery, a method that would have entailed minimum risk to those workers tasked with the demolition. However, between winning the contract and the work actually being carried out, the decision was taken by Smith that the building should instead be dismantled piece by piece, meaning workmen would be required to work at height to remove the roof sheets prior to the structure being unbolted. C Smith and Sons then subcontracted the job of dismantling the roof to Allan Thompson’s company, Building and Dismantling Contractors Ltd. On 20 January 2014, Scott Harrower – one of four employees undertaking this work, accidentally stepped through a skylight and narrowly evaded falling the 30 feet to the concrete floor below. At just after 9am on 21 January 2014, one of the group - a 47-year-old man – fell through a skylight to the concrete floor below, fracturing his spine, pelvis, right leg, heel and wrist. Ambulance and police attended. Once they had advised the company of its obligation to inform the Health and Safety Executive about the incident, officers left the scene. Despite their colleague suffering horrific injuries, the men were ordered to return to the roof just hours later. At 4pm that day, 42-year-old Scott Harrower fell through a skylight to the concrete below. He suffered catastrophic head injuries and died as a result. Detective Chief Inspector Richard Eales said: “It is clear from the evidence that both Smith and Thomson saw an opportunity to make a quick profit without any thought for the workers they sent on to the roof, and as a direct result of that greed Scott died and another man suffered life-changing injuries.” He added: “Smith and Thomson’s remorse did not then stretch to admitting their guilt, as both tried to hide behind their companies and refused to plead guilty to the charges levelled against them personally.”

•   GMP news release. Construction Enquirer. Littleborough Local. Rochdale Online.