£50,000 fine for tower crane collapse that killed two

Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd of Aldershot, Hampshire has been fined £50,000 plus £1,000 costs at Chichester Crown Court for breaches of health and safety legislation following the collapse of the tower crane in Worthing that killed two people.
Judge William Wood said he believed the breach was serious enough to attract a fine in the region of £100,000 to £200,000. However taking into account the current financial state of the company he imposed a fine of £50,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £1,000.
Gary Miles, 37, and Steven Boatman, 45, both from Reading, Berkshire, died when the 36m crane collapsed at Durrington High School in Worthing on 11 February 2005. The accident happened when an unsupervised colleague mistakenly loosened the bolts of the crane they were working on.

Eurolift pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches at a hearing in March while its parent company, Gloucester-based WD Bennett Plant and Services, was found guilty at the same hearing having pleading not guilty. Sentencing of WD Bennett has been adjourned until a date yet to be fixed.
After the conviction in March, WD Bennett Plant and Services was put into administration and its name changed to ‘WDB1’ on 7 May 2009. Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd still exists but is no longer trading.