Cleveland Bridge death: £1.5m Keith Poppleton fine unlikely to be paid

Keith Poppleton died in a fall on 25 October 2016

A £1.5m fine issued to a failed engineering company over an electrician's death is unlikely to be paid, administrators have said.

Cleveland Bridge was given the fine after being convicted of four health and safety breaches over the death of Keith Poppleton, 54, in 2016.

The Darlington-based firm was wound down in 2021.

Joint administrator Martyn Pullin said he understood the "frustration" felt by Mr Poppleton's family.

Mr Poppleton fell from a 25ft (7.6m)-high crane when an access panel in a walkway gave way at Cleveland Bridge on 25 October 2016.

Teesside Crown Court heard the hatch was supposed to have four clips securing it but there was only one in place when he plunged through it.

Catherine Poppleton's husband of 30 years Keith had written in his diary how excited he was about his Cleveland Bridge job

After the sentencing, Mr Poppleton's wife Catherine said there was no justice for her husband as the firm had closed and its directors had "walked away with no accountability".

Mr Pullin said: "We are saddened by the tragic case of Keith Poppleton and understand the frustration and disappointment felt by his family throughout the proceedings given the closure of Cleveland Bridge."

He said the fine and some £29,000 in court costs count was an "unsecured creditor claim" against Cleveland Bridge.

"Unfortunately given the company's financial state, there is unlikely to be any return to unsecured creditors," Mr Pullin said.

A spokesman for the administrators said there was already a "significant level of claims due to secured and preferential creditors", including the government.

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