Morrisons loses appeal over epileptic man's death

Matthew Gunn, who had epilepsy, fell from a staircase in September 2014

A supermarket chain has lost a bid to overturn convictions for health and safety failures after the death of an epileptic employee.

Matthew Gunn died 12 days after falling from a staircase during a seizure at a Gloucestershire Morrisons store in September 2014.

The company was fined £3.5m in March 2023 after it was convicted of three health and safety offences. It had admitted a fourth minor technical charge.

Court of Appeal judges dismissed Morrisons' appeal bid on Wednesday, stating steps "could have been taken" to mitigate the risks posed.

Morrisons had applied to the court for the green light to challenge the convictions, with lawyers telling a hearing health and safety laws had been incorrectly interpreted at trial.

Lord Justice William Davis said: “We accept that the staircase did not present a risk for almost all members of staff at the store. In our judgement that is not the point.

"It created a material risk to the health and safety of Matthew Gunn.”

'Massive hole'

Mr Gunn, 27, who was a shelf replenisher, regularly used the staircase to access his locker on the first floor of the Tewkesbury supermarket, where he stored his belongings in line with company policy.

He never regained consciousness following the fall on 25 September 2014 and died on 7 October that year.

Mr Gunn's mother, Sue Goellner, told Gloucester Crown Court he died three-and-a-half months after she warned managers of the risk to her son due to his frequent seizures.

At Wednesday's hearing, Ms Goellner appeared via video link and said her son's death "had left a massive hole" in her heart.

She said she had lost her job as a result and her marriage had ended.

Mr Gunn's locker had been moved shortly before his death

Representing Tewkesbury Borough Council, which brought the prosecution, Richard Atkins KC, said there "was nothing wrong with the outcome of the case".

He said Mr Gunn's locker had been moved upstairs from the ground floor of the store without a risk assessment being carried out.

Richard Matthews KC, for Morrisons, described the case as “tragic” but said a “control measure to forbid Matthew from using the stairs” was not an option.

He said: “No one can or should suggest that every staircase, fixed staircase, in a workplace, with a lift, has to have a rule that epileptics who may have a severe epileptic seizure are not permitted to use it.”

'Real risk'

Refusing the appeal bid, Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and Judge Dennis Watson KC, said: “There was ample evidence that the conduct of the company exposed Matthew Gunn to a real risk.

“The event that led to Matthew Gunn’s death was one that had been feared by his mother, his colleagues and the company’s occupational health officer.

“All these fears were made known to the company.”

The judges awarded Tewkesbury Borough Council £20,000 in costs.