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September 16, 2013

Death of teenager leads to £100,000 fine for JA Jones & Sons

 

The area of the Hesketh Estate where the incident happenedA Southport tree nursery has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs following the death of a teenager who came off his motorbike when it collided with a metal cable strung between two trees.
 
Ryan Acaster, 17, had visited the Hesketh Estate in Crossens on 20 July 2008 with a few friends to use his off-road bike on a track next to Suttons Wood.
 
He suffered fatal head injuries when he was thrown from his 110cc off-road bike after it hit a 2cm-thick wire that was strung across the track a metre above the ground. He was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries.
 
The HSE prosecuted JA Jones & Sons (Churchtown) Ltd, which runs a tree nursery on the estate, after an investigation found the company had erected the cable in a dark, wooded area part of the way down the track.
 
The discarded 'no access' sign which was found in the undergrowthLiverpool Crown Court heard that the wire had been erected several weeks before the incident by one of JA Jones & Sons’ employees to stop unauthorised access. A ‘no access’ sign was on the cable but had been replaced with a t-shirt at some point prior to Ryan and his friends visiting the estate.
The discarded ‘no access’ sign, which was found in the undergrowth
 
JA Jones & Sons of Bankfield Lane in Churchtown, Southport pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £50,209 in prosecution costs.
 
Ryan AcasterFollowing the hearing, HSE inspector Lisa Bailey, said: “Ryan’s tragic death at such a young age could have been avoided if JA Jones & Sons had thought more about the potential consequences of erecting the cable.
 
“It was strung between two trees in a dark, wooded area part of the way down the track, which made it difficult to see for anyone travelling towards it.
 
“If the company wanted to stop people from using the track, then it should have installed a proper barrier or warning sign at the entrance. That way, it could have kept vehicles away without putting lives in danger.”

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Rob Slater
Rob Slater
11 years ago

Surely this is an appropriate case for Corporate Manslaughter or failing that a charge under s37 HSW.
Any half decent risk assessment would have predicted such an event.

Wayne Jones
Wayne Jones
11 years ago

You dont have to be a H&S expert to understand that leaving a taught wire across an area where people walk or ride could reuslt in injury. Not only dangerous, but foolhardy and irresponsible