Man convicted in Bristol after dad's scaffolding fall death - BBC News

2022-08-08 07:19:27 By : Ms. Ana Chen

A man has been convicted of breaking health and safety laws after his father fell and died while working for his company.

Arthur Harbutt, 78, from Birmingham, died after falling from scaffolding at Centaurus Retail Park, South Gloucestershire on 5 March 2018.

Garry Harbutt was convicted after a trial at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday.

He was cleared of the charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Night & Day Glaziers Ltd pleaded guilty to the charge of failure to discharge a duty on 17 January.

Mr Harbutt, 54, from Oldbury, West Midlands, was convicted of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

His company Night and Day was contracted to refit a shop unit at the retail park when the accident happened.

The father and son were part of a group of five men moving a large glass panel up some steps on a scaffolding platform, which had no internal edge protection.

As Mr Harbutt reached the top of the platform he stumbled and fell from the front of the platform, falling through the framework of the shop unit and onto a concrete floor.

Alyson Harris from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Garry Harbutt was in charge of operations on the day his father died.

"He failed to ensure that his employees working on the scaffolding had the protection they needed, which led to his father falling and sustaining the injuries that killed him.

Ms Harris added that that providing a safe system of work in all areas of construction is "essential to prevent such terrible tragedies occurring".

Mr Harbutt will be sentenced at a later date.

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