A company and its director have been prosecuted after two construction workers died while lifting a sofa into an apartment in west London.

Martin Gutaj, 44, of Ferry Lane, Brentford, and his company Martinisation London Limited were found guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday, 19 May.

Mr Gutaj was found guilty of two counts of failure to discharge a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, contrary to section 33 (1) and section 71 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

In addition, Martinisation London was found guilty of two counts of corporate manslaughter, contrary to section 1 (1) of the Corporation Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and two counts of failure to discharge a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, contrary to section 33 (1) and section 71 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

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The court heard how two Polish nationals, 22-year-old Tomasz Procko and 29-year-old Kyrol Szymanski, were working at a construction site in Cadogan Square run by Martinisation London on 21 November 2014.

During the work, the victims were asked to perform a lifting operation at height without supervision and the requisite training. The men were not provided with a plan, method statement or risk assessment prior to the task being undertaken.

The workmen were to used a rope to haul a sofa over a balustrade and into a first floor apartment. Advice from an experienced lifting company on how to carry out the process safely was ignored due to time and budgetary constraints.

As a result, both men fell when the railings on the balcony gave way whilst the furniture was being manoeuvred into the premises. Procko was pronounced dead at the scene, while Mr Szymanski was taken to a central London hospital in a critical condition where he later died.

Mr Gutaj has been bailed to appear at the Old Bailey for sentencing on Friday, 07 July.

Detective Sergeant Simon Rogers from the Homicide and Major Crime Command said: "Tomasz Procko and Kyrol Szymanski fell to their deaths during the lifting operation which was entirely foreseeable and avoidable. Martinisation London Limited and the operation director Martin Gutaj failed in their duty of care to protect the men."

(LM/MH)