Builders sentenced to three years after death of father of five on building site

28.07.2017

News

In 2014 Shane Wilkinson was killed on site when an unsecured trench wall collapsed on top of him at a building site in Collyweston. The father of five was completely buried in the rubble, and despite the best efforts of fellow workers, he died at the scene.

The court heard that basic safety measures had been ignored and the sides of the trench weren’t properly or adequately secured when it collapsed; the site was being managed by building contractors, Conquest Homes. Last month two men were convicted for gross negligence manslaughter and failure to ensure the health and safety of persons.

Andrew Winterton, site manager and director of Conquest Homes was sentenced to four years in jail and ordered to pay costs of £90,500 under the conviction of gross negligence manslaughter.

Dean Wortley, who traded as Clearview Demolition was given a 12 month sentence and ordered to pay £20,000 towards costs. Wortley was found guilty of failure as a self-employed person to discharge his duty to ensure the health and safety of persons not in his employment. Wortley was also found guilty for failing to take all practical steps to prevent danger and has since come under further scrutiny for supposed alterations to risk assessments.

Detective Superintendent, Steve Woliter said ‘the culture of the building site was chaotic and also culpable because they knew what the rules were and chose to ignore them’ and that ‘Shane’s death could easily have been avoided if Winterton and Wortley had shown any regard for basic safety measures’.

This tragedy comes just two years after a stack of unglazed frames collapsed and killed a passer-by in 2012, and highlights the importance of health and safety on construction sites.