Firm and managers punished after fatal crush on site

The worker was killed on a development site in Birmingham

A negligent firm has been ordered to pay more than half a million pounds after a worker was crushed to death at one of its sites.

Oleksander “Sasha” Rudyy, 49, was killed while working on a development site on Vittoria Street, Birmingham, in May 2019.

Stonehurst Estates Ltd has been fined £450k and told to pay £167k in costs after pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter.

Director Simon Briggs, of Danehill, East Sussex, and site foreman Vasyl Bychkov, from Clapham in south London, also admitted a health and safety offence.

Mr Rudyy had been removing supporting metal bars with an angle grinder as part of a large-scale renovation project, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Prosecutors said the worker, from London, was not aware the metal bars played a crucial role in supporting the structure.

It later collapsed on him, injuring two others in the process.

Birmingham Crown Court heard the standard of protection granted to Mr Rudyy during the work had been described as "woeful" by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expert.

Director Simon Briggs (left) and site foreman Vasyl Bychkov were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court

Briggs, 61, was sentenced to 23 weeks' imprisonment suspended for 18 months at the court on Thursday.

He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work after admitting he had breached health and safety regulations.

Bychkov, 45, was ordered to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work for the same offence.

The pair had pleaded guilty on 17 January.

'Needless' death

Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS special crime division, said Briggs was not on site when the tragedy took place but owed a duty of care as a director of the firm.

“He and his company failed to plan and carry out the demolition safely which led to tragic consequences where a man needlessly lost his life," she said.

Ms Ainslie added Bychkov had no expertise in demolition but had asked Mr Rudyy to undertake a dangerous task anyway.

"He failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of labourers working at the site," she added.

“Our thoughts remain with Mr Rudyy’s family and friends at this time.”

Mr Rudyy's widow issued a statement through lawyers when Briggs and Bychkov first appeared in court in August 2022.

She said: "There is an emptiness inside of me that will haunt me every day for the rest of my life."