Milton Keynes scaffolding collapse: main contractor pleads guilty
10:10 17 Feb 2009
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Northern Irish contractor McAleer & Rushe has pleaded guilty to two health and safety offences following a fatal scaffolding collapse in Milton Keynes nearly three years ago.
John Robinson, 49, died on the Jury's Inn hotel site in Midsummer Boulevard, where McAleer & Rushe were main contractors, in April 2006 following the accident. Two others were seriously injured.
In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive, magistrates at Milton Keynes magistrates court were told the scaffolding had numerous faults - it failed to meet British safety standards and was seriously overloaded.
The company admitted failing in its duty to protect its workforce and the public.
The firm will be sentenced later this month, according to local news reports.
Meanwhile an arrest warrant has been issued without bail, for John David King, of Alicante, Spain.
King, who faces a total of four charges for alleged breaches of the HSW Act, CHSW Regulations and the WAH Regulations has fled the country. He is charged as a director of NNM Scaffolding Limited.
Lee Smith Carpentry also faces prosecution over alleged breaches of health and safety law.