Newbury forklift death: Costain guilty of safety breaches
A building developer has been found guilty of health and safety breaches that led to the death of a supervisor on one of its building sites.
Mark Williams was killed when a Telehandler machine toppled on him while lifting tiles on to a roof.
He died at the scene of the Parkway Shopping Centre development in Newbury, Berkshire in July 2011.
Reading Crown Court heard Mr Williams had complained about a small, crowded working area the day before he died.
The prosecution said the 41-year-old, from Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire, had to make many short twists and turns in the forklift truck to manoeuvre it properly, which led to it tipping.
Costain was found guilty of failure to ensure the health, safety and welfare of a worker.
The Maidenhead-based company was also found guilty of exposing another employee to a risk of harm and of failing to carry out proper risk assessments.
'Worst site ever'
In a statement delivered after the verdict, Mr Williams' family said they had "mixed feelings" about the result, adding he was "let down" by Costain and [contractor] Attleys Roofing.
"We've sat in court and listened to these companies telling the jury that there was no pressure to get the job done - safety over productivity," they said.
"It sounds like the perfect site but sadly that is far from the truth. Mark told us it was the worst site he had ever worked on.
"The day before he died, he told Costain in a meeting that 'someone was going to get killed'.
"Sadly for us, someone did get killed - him.
"The investigation is over but Mark does not come home to his family. I have just spent another Mother's Day at my son's grave."