Skip hire boss escapes jail after fatal accident

THE owner of a Black Country skip hire firm has been given a two year suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of one of his employees.

Bikram Mahli, owner of Bilston Skips, was also ordered to pay costs of £10,000 and was banned from being a director of a company for ten years following the conclusion of a two-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Mahli, aged 44, of Yale Road, Willenhall, also pleaded guilty to failing to discharge a duty by ensuring the safety and welfare of employees.

The company itself was fined £600,000 as a result of the death but has since entered voluntary liquidation.

Jagpal Singh died of head injuries on June 28, 2012 after falling from a skip at the firm’s premises in Bilston Road. The court heard the 24-year-old was compressing waste at the time of the incident.

Emergency services were called but he died in hospital a short while later.

Judge James Burbage QC told the court it was difficult to see whether human life was valued at all on the site.

He said: “Bikram Singh Mahli allowed a woeful and inadequate system of work where there were significant failures to segregate workers from plant machinery.

“As a consequence, this lead directly to the death of Jagpal Singh.”

Detective Sergeant Andy Houston, of the West Midlands Police Homicide team said: “This is a sad case where the systematic failings of a company and an individual who paid no regard for the health and safety of his employees has led to the untimely death of Mr Singh.

“Today justice has been done for his family although events can never be undone.

“This should send a message to employers who pay scant regard to the health and safety of their workers.”

Health and Safety Executive Inspector Kanwal Kanda said: “This is a tragic incident where a young man lost his life through the complete failure of (a firm) to give any worthwhile attention to the health and safety of workers at the company premises.

“There were simple and achievable measures that could have been taken to prevent collisions between pedestrians and moving machinery or vehicles – failure to do so however, put workers at extreme and obvious risk to their safety.

“This case highlights the need for and the importance of effective measures to segregate pedestrians from moving vehicles not only in the waste management industry but in all industry sectors where those risks exist.”