Wolverhampton: Mum cannot forgive son's shredder death

Caroline Willis said the loss of her son had ruined her life

The mother of a man killed in an industrial shredder has said she cannot forgive the yard's manager.

Brian Timmins, who was also operating the equipment, was convicted of manslaughter after David Willis, 29, fell into the machine at Timmins Waste Services in Wolverhampton.

Caroline Willis said her life had been ruined and her family "wrecked". Her son's remains were never found.

Timmins was jailed for seven and a half years on Friday.

During the same Wolverhampton Crown Court sentencing hearing, Timmins Waste Services was fined £400,000 after being convicted of corporate manslaughter last week.

When Mr Willis fell into the shredder on 15 September 2018, he had worked at the site for about eight years, his mother told the BBC.

She said she had a "mother's instinct" that something was "really really wrong" when she had not heard from him by the early hours of the morning.

She decided to drive around Wolverhampton looking for him, she said.

"I was heartbroken. I was just saying 'please, please let him be OK. Please God, let him be safe'," she explained.

But he was not safe.

David Willis was a man who would do anything for anybody and lived life to the full, his mother said

When the machine stopped abruptly five years ago, Timmins, of Fair Lawn in Albrighton, Shropshire, used a digger to lift Mr Willis on to it to clear a blockage, the court case heard.

The shredder, the jury was told, should have been switched off while the task was carried out, but instead it was still ejecting waste.

When it seemed Mr Willis was no longer at the scene, prosecutors said, Timmins searched the yard and looked inside the shredder. He also carried on operating the machine, they informed the court.

They added that the next day, Timmins and other employees loaded and disposed of 80 tonnes of recycled waste by taking it to a landfill site in Staffordshire. That material likely contained Mr Willis's remains, the court heard.

Mrs Willis said the lack of remains was the most hurtful aspect.

"Other people can go and talk to the person who's died," she said.

"I can't because I've got nothing to talk to, nothing to bury, nothing to cremate. It's just heart-breaking."

She reported her son missing on the day of the incident and he was considered missing for two days before his coat was found near the machine, suggesting he may have come to harm.

CCTV footage showed Mr Willis going into the machine and failing to re-emerge.

Brian Timmins was operating the machine

At trial, the jury could not reach a verdict on a charge faced by Brian Timmins of perverting the course of justice.

Mrs Willis said that on hearing the guilty verdicts of 6 December "I broke down and sobbed. I was happy and relieved".

But she said of Timmins: "I will never ever forgive him, no matter what. I've got nothing but hatred for them after they've ruined my life.

"They have taken part of my life, my son, my best friend."

Mr Willis died at Timmins Waste Services on 15 September 2018, the court heard

Mrs Willis described her son as kind-hearted, a man who "lived life to the full" and "would do anything for anybody if he could".

He would accompany his mother, who worked as a carer, on her night shifts to ensure she was safe and was not alone.

She said she also had "so many plans" for Christmas in 2018, which was to be her first Christmas Day off work.

"He [too] had so many plans and he never got to live them," she said. "It was taken away.

"Birthdays and Christmas mean nothing now. I have to put on a smile for my grandchildren, but I don't feel anything."

She added: "I regret my son never left there when his friend begged and begged him to leave.

"It has absolutely wrecked our family."