Council and firm fined after electrical engineer killed by a tree during storm
A NORTHERN Ireland council and a construction company that admitted health and safety failings following the death of an electrical engineer have been fined a total of £50,000.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council was fined £20,000 at Newry Crown Court, while Lagan Construction Ltd was fined £30,000.
It followed the tragic death of Matthew Campbell, who was working for Lagan Construction Ltd at Slieve Gullion Forest Park in Co Armagh as strong winds lashed Northern Ireland during Storm Ali, which struck on September 19, 2018.
The 24-year-old was crushed under a 200-year-old beech tree, dying instantly in what Judge Paul Ramsey KC said was “a freak accident” which “could have — and should have — been avoided”.
And as Judge Ramsey imposed the fines, he quoted a victim impact statement from
Mr Campbell’s father, outlining how “words can never describe the devastating effect Matthew’s sudden, unnecessary death has had on his family”.
“He says that they all miss and think of him every second of every day. He was a wonderful son, whom we loved very much and still do,” Judge Ramsey told the court.
“Matthew was a kind, generous, funny and loving young man who made us proud every day of his short life.
“Instead of Matthew bringing his children to visit his grandparents we, as Matthew’s family, are going to the grave to grieve and visit him, or to Slieve Gullion Forest Park, where he had his last living moment. The hurt and the pain and the loss we feel will never end.”
At the time of the tragic accident, Mr Campbell had been working for Lagan Construction Ltd.
The electrical engineer had only been working at the company for three and a half months and, as the park itself is owned and controlled by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, they both faced health and safety charges.
Just before Christmas last year, the council, with its head offices at Downshire Civic Centre in Downpatrick, entered guilty pleas to failing to make appropriate risk assessments for non-employees and employees respectively and to failing to ensure, so far as would be reasonably practicable, the health and safety of employees and non-employees on September 19, 2018.
On the day that Lagan Construction Ltd was due to go on trial in January, the company, with offices on the Sydenham Road in Belfast, entered a guilty plea to failing to make a proper risk assessment.
A week before the tragic accident, Matthew and his fiancée Robyn Newberry had sent out ‘save the date’ cards for their wedding in August 2019. Ms Newberry had also collected the couple’s wedding rings on the day that Matthew was killed.
During his sentencing remarks, Judge Ramsey said: “I take the view that this monumental tragedy only happened because two independent culpabilities came together to create the situation that led to Matthew’s death.”
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, in accepting a health and safety breach, confirmed it had received emails from the Met Office regarding weather warnings.
The court heard that at the time of Storm Ali, the council had no written policy in place regarding the opening of Slieve Gullion Forest Park, or other facilities under its control.
Lagan Construction Ltd admitted that the risk assessment undertaken was insufficient and it failed to take account of the fact the project was being undertaken in an area populated with mature trees in a forest park setting.
The court also heard that, following a court hearing in February, representatives from the council, including the chief executive, met with Mr Campbell’s mother and father and offered a formal apology for the council’s failing, “which was warmly appreciated by the family”.
In handing down the fines, Judge Ramsey urged both Lagan Construction Ltd and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to also make a voluntary donation to a charity of the Campbell family’s choosing.