Corporate manslaughter conviction after worker fell to his death

Two men have received suspended prison sentences after a man fell to his death from an unsafe platform.

Henry Thomas Willis was killed in 2019 when he fell 20 ft while working on a farm, North Yorkshire Police said.

The business owned by Timothy and Mark Willis was convicted of corporate manslaughter and fined £335,000 at Teesside Crown Court.

The pair were cleared of manslaughter charges after a trial, but found guilty of health and safety breaches. Timothy Willis, 59, was sentenced to 11 months in prison suspended for two years. Mark Willis, 56, was given a 23-week suspended sentence.

Police said Henry, 20, was replacing a barn roof in Hambleton when he fell from a basket attached to a telehandler on 25 January 2019. He was taken by air ambulance to hospital but died two days later.

A joint investigation between police and the Health and Safety Executive found the basket did not comply with health and safety rules and that equipment required to complete the work safely had not been in use on the construction project, police said.

Detective inspector Nichola Holden said: “This was an extremely tragic incident in which a young man lost his life due to his employer’s blatant disregard for ensuring the provision of appropriate equipment to keep their employees safe.

“The investigation uncovered a number of dangerous working practices which put the lives of everyone working on site at risk.

“The basket in use by Henry at the time of his fall was not fit for purpose and the reality is that if he had been provided with the right equipment and training, he could still have been here today.”

The men, both from Gilling West in North Yorkshire, were also charged £1,000 each in costs and ordered to carry out unpaid work.