20.06.2009

Eurolift fined £50,000

The first sentencing has been handed down following the guilty verdict for WD Bennett and its subsidiary Eurolift, for the fatal tower crane collapse in Worthing in 2003.

Eurolift, which pleaded guilty has been fined £50,000 plus £1,000 in costs, although the Judge William Wood said the company deserved to be fined up to £200,000, but accepted that it would not be able to afford it as it had ceased operations since the accident.

WD Bennett, which pleaded not guilty and has ceased trading following a pre pack administration earlier this year. It will apparently be sentenced once financial information becomes available. It has denied both health and safety breaches but was also found guilty and would therefore face steeper penalties.
To read more about this case, click here

Vertikal Comment

There are no funds available from the administration of WD Bennett to pay any fines, so it seems slightly pointless in bothering with spending any further time and money on any sentencing. The facts in this case are deplorable, a) in that it took so long to come to trial and b) The real facts in the case highlight that the company had taken all reasonable steps to ensure the safe dismantling, and the tower crane, but were thwarted in site by the employees carrying out the work.

Why the Health & Safety Executive pursued this case so vigorously when it has let other, more clearly blatant cases of abuse pass without legal action is something of a mystery.