Durrington crane collapse: jury to decide blame

AN UNQUALIFIED "dogsbody"played a key role in the tragic deaths of two construction workers after a crane collapsed at a Durrington school in 2005, a court heard.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Mar 2009, 10:18 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 00:50 BST

Nigel Lithman QC, prosecuting, told a jury at Chichester Crown Court that relief crane driver David Smith, 57, incorrectly loosened bolts on a crane being dismantled on the site at Durrington High School on

February 11, 2005.

The crane subsequently collapsed, killing Mr Smith's colleagues; Gary Miles, 37, and Stephen Boatman, 45, both from Reading.

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Mr Smith suffered broken bones and cuts when he was knocked unconscious and tangled in cables as the crane fell.

Mr Lithman said overall responsibilty for the tragedy rested with the defendant, W D Bennett Plant and Services Ltd, which denies two offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

He said: "The crane collapsed because an unqualified man was left to carry out safety critical work and was not supervised when he did so. There was no safe system of work in place and there ought to have been."

Mr Lithman said Mr Smith had received "flimsy" instructions on how to loosen bolts on the 36m crane from Mr Miles and Mr Boatman but was

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"wholly untrained" in the loosening procedure, known as "de-torquing".

He added: "If you do not perform the de-torquing process with precision, this is a disaster waiting to happen."

"It's actually a matter of luck that no other person was killed or injured as the crane came crashing down."

Mr Lithman said Mr Smith "considered himself to be a dogsbody or gofer who only ever acted at the instruction of others".

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Eurolift, the immediate employers of all three men, admitted two offences before the trial began on Monday.

But Mr Lithman claimed Eurolift was a "wholly-owned subsidiary" of W D Bennett, based in Gloucester, and said the senior company bore responsibility for Mr Smith's lack of training or supervision.

He added: "We say the bigger company can't simply sit back and absolve itself of responsibility by blaming the smaller company."

W D Bennett deny the charges. The case continues.

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Related topics:David SmithReading