19.11.2024

Falcon acquitted

UK tower crane sales and rental company Falcon, has been acquitted of health & safety charges resulting from a fatal crane incident in Crewe in June 2017 in which three men lost their lives.

The trial at Chester Crown Court was expected to last four weeks, but ended last week after 10 days, when the judge directed the jury to return not guilty verdict due to insufficient evidence. The HSE had prosecuted on two breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act, to which Falcon had pleaded Not Guilty.
We understand that they were ‘failing to devise and implement a suitable and sufficient process involved in erecting a Potain MC85b tower crane.’
and
‘That on and before June 21 2017 it failed to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.’

After the ruling, Falcon Cranes said: "We have been deeply affected by the incident. The company has done all it can to provide support to the families of those who suffered, with our thoughts remaining with them at all times. Throughout this 7.5 year long investigation, the company has cooperated fully with all authorities. We were extremely disappointed the HSE chose to prosecute the company for what it considered to have been health and safety breaches. We are now satisfied the HSE accepts these charges were not justified. Our thoughts remain with the families of those who have suffered."

The HSE added: "This was a long and complex investigation, and our thoughts remain with the families of the three men who lost their lives in 2017."

The crane involved had a counterweighted base and overturned on the site in Crewe on June 21, 2017, with Rhys Barker, 18 , David Newall, 36, and David Webb, 43, all tragically losing their lives.

Vertikal Comment

This was a dreadful tragedy affecting not only the families of those who died, but also their work colleagues and others on the site at the time. It is also a disgrace that this has taken seven years to come to court. Surely a full and detailed report on exactly how the incident occurred and what might have been done differently should have been the priority, rather than seeking fines and blame.

We have left the comments open, but please bear in mind that people lost their lives in this incident, and the company has been acquitted after having it hang over them for a very long time. No matter how you feel, this is not the time or the place to point score or have a go at anyone involved.