"Utterly Reckless" Employer Jailed for Worker's Death: Safety Guarding Removed

An employer has been jailed for a year for manslaughter after one of his workers was crushed to death. Father-of-three Shaun Cooper, 27, was found dead in a poultry shed after becoming trapped in equipment. Peter Pell pleaded guilty to manslaughter after it was found he removed all the safety features on the machine.

Mr Cooper was the second employee working for Mr Pell's poultry shed cleaning company to die in less than six years. A judge at Nottingham Crown Court heard the 62-year-old bought the skid steer loader in 1994 and within days had pulled out the safety mechanisms designed to protect the operator.

Mr Justice Morland jailed Pell for 12 months and ordered two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act to lie on file. He said the sentence would have been longer but for Pell’s age and poor health, adding: "This was a case of a flagrant disregard for the safety of your employees, utter recklessness."

Peter Allenson of rural workers’ union TGWU commented: "In agriculture, as in construction, there has to be a change of culture, which we think will only come about when strong custodial penalties are handed down to employers who breach health and safety law and it results in death."
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