Firm's challenge of fine for scaffold death fails

Gary Skelding died when scaffolding he was working on collapsed

A construction company has had its bid to appeal against a fine handed down following the death of a worker on a building site in 2020 thrown out.

Gary Skelding, 56, fell from a six-metre high scaffold when it collapsed at King William's College in Castletown.

In February, Stewart Clague Services (SCS) was fined £200,000 after pleading guilty to failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees.

The appeal judges ruled the fine had not been "manifestly excessive".

Arguing for a reduction in the sum, SCS's defence advocate said the company had been fined 45% more than was appropriate for the firm's level of culpability in relation to the events that led to the death.

Building works were being carried out at King Williams College in 2020

However Judge of Appeal Anthony Cross KC and Deemster Richard Pratt KC agreed with prosecutors that the company was "fortunate" to have been sentenced on the basis of medium culpability, rather than high.

That was given as a key reason for Deemster Sandeep Kainth's original fine of £200,000 being considered fair.

The deemsters said that he had been faced with a "difficult sentencing exercise".

Delivering their ruling, they referred to the victim impact statement by Mr Skelding's widow, which she read in court in February.

The deemsters said it was "moving" and inadvertently demonstrated the wider impact of a case like this.

The £200,000 was therefore an appropriate amount to "bring home" the message of safety.

The appeal had "no reasonable prospect of success", they added.

SCS was ordered to pay £1,250 in costs for the bid to appeal.

Site joinery foreman Stephen Phillips was previously handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence for a health and safety breach, but was cleared of cleared of gross negligence manslaughter after a trial.