STUNT DEATH
Cannonball firm fined £100,000
A company has been fined £100,000 over the death of a human cannonball in a stunt gone wrong.
Scott May, who runs Stunts UK Ltd, admitted health and safety breaches following the death of Matthew Cranch at the County Showground in Detling in April 2011.
May was handed a 12-month community order after a case at Maidstone Crown Court and told to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. His firm must pay the fine at the rate of £3,000 a month, plus £80,000 in court costs.
Mr Cranch, 24, from Cornwall, died after being fired from a cannon. A mechanism designed to collapse a safety net was activated too early in the routine. It meant a taut net which Mr Cranch should have landed on, had fallen to the ground while he was still in the air. It was not certain whether it was triggered by vibration from the considerable recoil of the lorry.
The accident was witnessed by a large number of spectators and video footage was taken. Judge Jeremy Carey saw one video in his private chambers.
The defendants accepted there was not a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the release mechanism. May accepted he had a duty to identify the risk.
Judge Carey heard the equip- ment had been used without incident for 20 years, but he described the safety net as the “absolutely crucial aspect to the stunt”.
Imposing the community order on May, the judge told him: “You have not just expressed remorse, you have felt it and conducted your business and life in away consistent with that general attitude.”
Scott May also apologised to the Cranch family.
Tanya Robinson, defending, said May wanted Mr Cranch’s parents to know he was truly sorry.
She said May thought long and hard about carrying on with the business, but said it was well managed and May considered his staff like extended family. He had also made changes to reduce future risks.
The prosecution was brought against May, 40, also of Cornwall, by Maidstone council.
Prosecutor Mark Watson said the equipment ‘posed an obvious risk’ adding: “Health and safety was lackadaisical and unprofessional.”
The cannonball equipment would be destroyed when the case was over.