Mission to Seafarers charity pleads guilty over volunteer's death

Teesside magistrates heard the death of the Mission to Seafarers volunteer was "tragic"

A charity has admitted a health and safety breach following the death of one of its volunteers.

Mission to Seafarers, a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews, was charged with failing to ensure people were not exposed to risks after a man died.

The organisation pleaded guilty at a hearing at Teesside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

It will be sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on 18 July.

The charge, brought by Stockton Council in October 2020, relates to the death of a man named Eric Palin but no other details of the case were aired before magistrates, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

No-one from the charity was in court for the hearing.

However, Jonathan Lally, defending, said members of the mission would attend sentencing for what he described as a "tragic case" but one which was not "particularly complex ... in terms of the facts of the issues".

Dismissing Mr Lally's call for the sentencing to be heard at the magistrates' court, district judge Marie Mallon said: "I would take the view that the seriousness of the case, bearing in mind the tragedy of the death of Mr Palin, is such that it should go to the crown court."