A Sunderland building firm has been fined £10,000 following an incident in which one of its workers was injured.

Murray Construction and Development Ltd, of Pottery Road, Southwick, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to a breach of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The case related to an incident on May 22, 2007 at Andes House, Cleadon Village, South Tyneside where one of its employees was injured when he fell 2.8 metres from rafters onto a concrete floor.

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South Tyneside Magistrates' Court fined the company £10,000 and ordered it to pay a compensatory award of £5,000 to the injured worker, £1,414 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Three employees of Murray Construction & Development Ltd were working on the construction of a new house and moving one of the rafters to accommodate a roof window. One man was standing on a joiner's stool to do this and lost his balance; he fell through a gap onto the concrete floor 2.8 metres below him. He suffered serious injuries and has been unable to return to work since the incident.

(CD/JM)