Cleveland Bridge death: Widow says no justice for Keith Poppleton

Keith Poppleton died in a fall on 25 October 2016

A woman whose husband died in a fall at an engineering firm said he had had "no justice" after the company closed.

Keith Poppleton, 54, fell from a 25ft (7.6m)-high crane at Cleveland Bridge in Darlington on 25 October 2016.

The company, which closed in 2021 after entering administration, was found guilty of four health and safety breaches and ordered to pay a £1.5m fine by Teesside Crown Court.

His family said managers had been able to "walk away with no accountability".

Mr Poppleton, an electrician and lecturer, was working for an agency repairing wiring to stop the crane short-circuiting, the court heard.

He stepped on the access panel in the walkway which gave way beneath him, causing him to fall 26ft (8m) on to metal girders.

He suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.

Catherine Poppleton said she felt there had been no justice for her husband of 30 years Keith who died in 2016

Prosecutor Craig Hassall QC said the gantry crane had been installed in 1983 and its design plans showed the walkway panels needed to be held in place by four clips secured with bolts.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found there was only one clip on the panel at the time of Mr Poppleton's death.

Mr Hassall said there was "no evidence" Cleveland Bridge had a maintenance schedule for the walkways, or a plan to ensure the panels were securely replaced after they were removed to allow access to lights below.

He said the company's health and safety record was "poor" and in 2003 it was fined £8,000 when a worker fell 5ft (1.5m) from "poorly guarded scaffolding".

In a statement read to the court, Mr Poppleton's wife of 30 years Catherine said he was delighted to have got the job at Cleveland Bridge, writing in his diary that the company had "saved my life and I hope to end my working days there".

She said it was a "cruel irony that never a truer word was written".

Keith Poppleton died when he fell through a hatch from a 25ft (7.6m)-high crane

Mrs Poppleton also said her husband "always had the highest regard and respect for health and safety" and taught his "risk averse" lessons to his family and students.

The court heard he was "overjoyed" about becoming a grandfather but died four days before the birth of his first granddaughter.

His widow said: "This devastates me and I do not think I will ever come to terms with him being robbed of meeting her."

She said her husband was the reason her life was "interesting, exciting and safe", adding: "He was my best friend, husband and soulmate."

The company has not represented itself in any of the hearings and was found guilty of four health and safety offences in its absence.

Mr Hassall said the firm's administrators had sent a letter to the court saying it was expected there would be "no distribution of any funds to any creditors of the company".

'No inspection'

The judge, His Honour Justice Stead, said the "entirety of the blame" for Mr Poppleton's death "falls upon Cleveland Bridge and its failings over a period of many years", adding: "Nothing that [Mr Poppleton] did had any bearing on what happened to him."

He said Mr Poppleton was "not only an experienced electrician" but also one who "had and set high standards".

The judge said the "highest standards of safety had to be maintained with regard to that walkway" as any fall from it would "almost certainly be fatal".

He said there was "no system of inspection or maintenance" of the walkway or panels since its installation almost 40 years ago.

He said a number of workers must have been exposed to the risk of a fall over the years increasing the "culpability of the company".

'Wicked and disgraceful'

While imposing the fine and costs of more than £29,000, the judge said he gave no thought to how it could be enforced.

Cleveland Bridge, which had a turnover of £44.2m in the year of Mr Poppleton's death, collapsed in September with debts of £21.7m and the loss of more than 100 jobs.

Mrs Poppleton said her family "do not feel that we have had justice for Keith".

"The company is no longer trading and all the directors at the time, who have long since abandoned ship, have literally walked away with no accountability."

She also said Cleveland Bridge's conduct had been "wicked and disgraceful" during civil proceedings by continuing to "deny liability" for Mr Poppleton's death and suggested he "himself may have been at fault".

"This prolonged our ordeal and caused me and my three daughters further unnecessary pain," Mrs Poppleton said.

She said: "I would hope that one day all company directors learn to value their workers and their safety, and pain such as we have suffered may be avoided by others in the future."