Home
About
Newsletter
Advice & Assistance
Researh & Briefings
Deaths, Inquests & Prosecutions
Corporate  Crime & safety Database
Safety Statistics
Obtaining Safety Information
CCA Responses to Consultation Documents
CCA Advocacy
CCA Press Releases
CCA Publications
Support the CCA
Bibliography
Search the CCA site
Contact Us
Quick Links ->
Convictions of Directors: 1 April 2003 - 31 March 2004

Conviction of Directors: 1 April 2003 - 31 March 2004
In 2002/3, 14 directors were convicted for health and safety offences. Five are known to have involved deaths. No-one faced imprisonment. The average fine was £6460

Conviction 1 (not in database)
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Bipin Bhagani £7,500 £15,000
Name of Company Whitefields Care Homes Ltd £10,000 £5,569
Location of offence Middlesex, London
Date of Offence 7 Feb 2001
Date of Hearing 29 April 2003
Summary The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution followed an incident on 7 February 2001 in which an 85 year old resident, Mrs Violet Frith, sustained serious burns to her legs whilst she was sleeping in her bed at Beaconsfield House Nursing Home. The burns arose from contact with the hot surface of a radiator, which was located next to the bed. Mrs Frith contracted a wound infection and died on 04 March 2001. After the hearing, HSE investigating inspector Stephen Hartley said :"This sad incident could have been easily prevented. Care homes and hospitals should be well aware of the risk that hot radiators and pipework present to vulnerable, elderly people."This case serves to remind Directors of the need to ensure that their organisations manage risks to health and safety effectively."

Conviction 2
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Mark Edward Foley £10,000 £5000
Name of Company Wessex Stone Limited
(now in liquidation)
£15,000 £5,000
Location of offence Bristol, SW
Date of Offence 12 Nov 2001
Date of Hearing 02 May 2003
Summary Unguarded machinery. Employee had arm amputated in unguarded conveyor. Complete failure to ensure safety of employees.

Conviction 3
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Daniel Christopher O'Brien £10,000 £5000
Name of Company Wessex Stone Limited
(Now in Liquidation)
£15,000 £5,000
Location of offence Uxbridge, London
Date of Offence 12 Nov 2001
Date of Hearing 02 May 2003
Summary Unguarded machinery. Employee had arm amputated in unguarded conveyor. Complete failure to ensure safety of employees.”

Conviction 4
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Mr Abdulwaheed Abidoye £3,750 £2000
Name of Company Beckon Contancting Ltd £2,500  
Location of offence London
Date of Offence 05 May 2002
Date of Hearing 28 May 2003
Summary ”Mr Abidoye, director of Beckon Contancting Ltd had his track certificate withdrawn by London Underground in April after breaching LUL rules. Despite this on 5 May 2002 he acted as protection master for Thales Telecommunications Ltd and took a contractor on to the track without informing the Track Access Controller . There was a risk of them being hit by a train or being electrocuted.”

Conviction 5 - Not in HSE database
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Paul MacKenzie £5000  
Name of Company Philip Services (Europe) Ltd No record  
Location of offence Southampton - South East
Date of Offence 17 Aug 2000
Date of Hearing 16 Jun 2003
Summary Christopher Shute died at the Ford factory in Wide Lane, Swathling on 17th August 2000. Mr Shute was killed when he fell into an emulsion paint overspray capture tank (EPOC) used to collect excess paint from spray booths on the transit van production line.

Conviction 6
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Lance Fawcett £2,500  
Name of Company G F Bisset (Inverbervie) Ltd (company in Liquidation) No record  
Location of offence Huddersfield, York and Jumberside
Date of Offence 25 Feb 2003
Date of Hearing 01 Jul 2003
Summary ”Director of Electrical Company, who directed that work should be done to repair gutter of industrial unit from roof, without addressing necessary safety precautions. Unsafe ladder access; no protection against falls from edge and no protection against falls through fragile roof lights in vicinity of work area. Work carried out by two employees of electrical company not trained or experienced in roof work. Younger one was eighteen years of age. The roofing project was carried out on an industrial unit privately owned by the Director, and was not part of usual company business.”

Conviction 7
    Fine Costs
Name of Director James William Alston £2700 £801
Name of Company W L Duffield and Sons Limited £0 £551
Location of offence Norwich, Norfolk - Eastern
Date of Offence 02 Dec 2002
Date of Hearing 18 Jul 2003
Summary Knocked down delivery driver on farm when driving JCB 526 with bucket raised obscuring view ahead

Conviction 8
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Mr Jonathan Eugene Bygate £6,500  
Name of Company Markyate Precision Engineering Co Ltd
(Liquiidation
Not convicted.  
Location of offence St Albans, Herts - Eastern
Date of Offence 01 Jan 2001
Date of Hearing 25 Jul 2003
Summary ”He was the director of Markyate Precision Engineering Co Ltd which went into voluntary liquidation in April 2002. He was the workshop manager and had his office in the premises where the death occurred. The fatal accident involved one jaw from a 3-jaw chuck striking the head of the operator during a maintenance activity”.

Conviction 9
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Carlton James Edwards-Leary £8,000 £200
Name of Company CEL Leadwork Contracts Ltd £4,000 £10,000
Location of offence Peterborough, Cambridgeshire - Eastern
Date of Offence 29 Sept 1998
Date of Hearing 04 Aug 2003
Summary ”Failure to comply with Improvement Notice and Control of Lead at Work regulation - failure to prevent eat/drink/smoke in lead contaminated area; and Control of Lead at Work r 10(1) failure to ensure employee exposed to lead is under health surveillance.”

Conviction 10
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Timothy Smalley £1,000  
Name of Company Bedmax Ltd £1,000 £600
Location of offence Belford, Northumberland - NE
Date of Offence 22 Sept 2002
Date of Hearing 02 Feb 2004
Summary ”Director of a Ltd Co. neglected to take the reasonably practicable measures he could have taken to ensure safety during work by a contractor he engaged to do plant work needing access across the fibre cement roof of the factory. One person fell through a plastic roof light approx. 5m to the floor below.”

Conviction 11
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Lewis Andrew Courtney £6000  
Name of Company Clearserve Ltd No record  
Location of offence Essex - Eastern
Date of Offence 05 Dec 2001
Date of Hearing 01 Sept 2003
Summary Case arising from fatality to Dean Butler. Manslaughter prosecution not successful

Conviction 12
    Fine Costs
Name of Director James Quinn Holland £1500  
Name of Company Clearserve Ltd No record  
Location of offence Essex - Eastern
Date of Offence 05 Dec 2001
Date of Hearing 01 Sept 2003
Summary Case arising from fatality to Dean Butler. Manslaughter prosecution not successful

Conviction 13
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Ian Terry Thorne £6000  
Name of Company JPD Ltd £12000  
Location of offence Stevenage, Herts - Eastern
Date of Offence 15 Jan 2003
Date of Hearing 24 Feb 2004
Summary ”Injured person was cutting plastic on an unguarded circular saw. He caught his hand in the running blade whilst trying to adjust it and suffered the loss of the top of his index finger with injuries to the other three fingers. Injured person had used the saw before but had no formal training. He had used the saw before with Mr Thorne, director of the company, without the guard in place. No risk assessments were in place, and the accident was not reported until HSE visited the company in April 2003. It was reasonably practicable for the guard to be in place..”

Conviction 14
    Fine Costs
Name of Director Timothy Gareth Elsome £10,000  
Name of Company Elsome Engineering Ltd £100,000 £12,981
Location of offence Leicestershire – East Midlands
Date of Offence 13 Feb 2003
Date of Hearing 19 March 2004
Summary ”Ken Chalk died when the FLT he was driving overturned. Elsome Engineering Ltd failed to ensure the safety of their employees using FLTs to move lengths of steel stock in the yard, in which 18" deep excavations had been made. There was no fence/barrier around the excavations, no information or instructions were given to the enployees about the excavations and the use of seat belts was not enforced and no assessment of the risk was made.”



 

Home -> Research & Briefings -> Director Duties
Page last updated on February 17, 2005