A County Durham man has been jailed and a Tyneside firm and one of its directors fined after a demolition worker fell to his death from a cherry picker that was knocked over by a falling roof beam.

Ken Joyce, 53, of Lanchester, County Durham, was working for Allan Turnbull, trading as A&H Site Line Boring and Machining, when the incident happened on 2 December 2008. He was dismantling the structural steelwork of the roof of the Burning Hall at the Swan Hunter Shipyard in Wallsend, Newcastle.

During a four-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court, a jury heard how Mr Joyce was working from one cherry picker while two colleagues were working from another cherry picker and a crane. They were dismantling the structure and were using a crane to lower the steel beams to the ground.

While removing a beam brace connecting two plate girders, one of the plate girders struck the basket of the cherry picker in which Mr Joyce was standing, knocking the equipment over.

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Mr Joyce fell to the ground below and suffered serious head injuries. He was pronounced dead soon after.

A joint investigation carried out by Northumbria Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) established that North Eastern Maritime Offshore Cluster Ltd (NEMOC) had sub-contracted the dismantling work to Allan Turnbull.

The jury was told that NEMOC and its director Christopher William Taylor failed to ensure the safety of its employees and sub-contracted workers by neglecting to check that Mr Turnbull had the necessary competence to carry out the work.

The police and HSE investigation also found that Allan Turnbull had failed to adequately plan the work after identifying a lack of suitable and sufficient lifting plans to ensure a safe system of work was in place for the dismantling of the structural steelwork.

Allan Turnbull, 61, of Boundary Cottages Farm, Inkerman, Tow Law, County Durham, was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter following the trial. He had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) by virtue of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

North Eastern Maritime Offshore Cluster Ltd (NEMOC), which had been operating from the Swan Hunter Yard, was fined £1 for each offence after it was found guilty in absence of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company is now in liquidation.

Christopher William Taylor, 51, of North Cottage, Adderstone Crescent, Newcastle, was found guilty of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) by virtue of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined a total of £30,000 (£15,000 for each offence) and ordered to pay £50,000 costs.

(CD/MH)