Farmer jailed over death of worker, 20
A farmer responsible for the death of a 20-year-old killed by dangerous machinery has been jailed for four and a half years.
Neil Carpenter, 45, from Dawlish, oversaw ‘ appalling’ safety standards at Springfield Farm which led to the death of Lauren Scott.
Lauren was killed when she became entangled in a 540rpm power take-off shaft at the back of a tractor.
A plastic sleeve which should have covered the spinning PTO was dented and exposed the shaft. The milling machine it powered was antiquated and dangerous.
Carpenter said he was working in the stables when Lauren activated the PTO and tractor without his permission.
But when police examined Lauren’s phone they found crucial footage which showed Carpenter sitting in the tractor probably operating the mill shortly before she died.
The prosecution in his trial at Exeter Crown Court said it was proof Carpenter used the mill that day and was criminally responsible for her death. He was found guilty of her manslaughter by gross negligence by the jury on Monday and returned to court yesterday for sentence.
Mr Justice Dingemans said the PTO posed an ‘obvious risk of entrapment and death’. He said Carpenter had ‘panicked’ and told the emergency services a false version of events which he was stuck with at trial.
“I’m sure Mr Carpenter couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge his role in what happened out of panic,” he said.
He added: “He was happy to farm using old machinery and this created a wholly avoidable risk of death. But he didn’t process that risk.
“No sentence which I can pass will reflect the loss suffered and will continue to suffer by Lauren Scott’s family.”
He paid tribute to the ‘quiet dignity’ Lauren’s family and hoped the trial would remind everyone of the dangers of inadequate safety on farms.
Lauren died from multiple injuries on March 4, 2017.
She was described as a bright and sensible young woman who loved animals. She worked at Pets Corner in Powderham Castle and for five years at Newton Abbot racecourse as a horse catcher.
Lauren would regularly travel from her home to help Carpenter with his pigs, cows and chickens. She died when she was caught by her hair and clothes in the PTO shaft. The effect was ‘instantaneous and catastrophic’.
The issue at the trial was whether Lauren had used the PTO, which connected the tractor to the milling machine, with Carpenter’s knowledge.
The defendant, of Firbank Road, was alone with Lauren on the farm when she died. He told police he heard a bang and found Lauren on the ground.
The large metal milling machine, which was made before the First World War, was on its side close by. He called 999 at 1.17pm and the air ambulance, police and fire engines arrived soon after. Lauren died of multiple injuries at the scene.
Carpenter said he had no knowledge the milling machine was being used by Lauren. He did not even think it was working at the time.
But a small amount of barley had been bruised for cattle just before Lauren died.
He lied to police about the sequence of events on the day Lauren died in order to escape responsibility.
When police examined her phone they found a video taken by Lauren 28 minutes before she died showed Carpenter in the background using the tractor.
Speaking after the verdict Ben Scott, Lauren’s brother, said her death could have been prevented if Carpenter had spent £75 on a new plastic sleeve for the PTO shaft.
Mum Nicola Scott-Hooper said in a statement read in court:“I was and always will be privileged to be her mother. In grief I mourn for the precious loss of my beautiful, amazing and intelligent Lauren.”