Court date for man charged after death of Solihull man on building site

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Court date for man charged after death of Solihull man on building site

• Jun 13 2012

A digger driver is due to enter a plea at Birmingham Crown Court following the death of a Solihull man on a building site.

Jonathan Gold, 47, is charged with perverting the course of justice, perjury and failing to ensure the safety of a non-employee.

Site engineer Mark Handford, aged 22, died instantly when the bucket from an excavation digger came loose and fell on him as he helped to carry out levelling work on Claybrook Drive, in Redditch, on August 12, 2009.
His family called for a mandatory ban on the type of digger mechanism involved after an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
Mr Gold was working as a sub-contractor on the site and was trading as Gold Plant Hire.
He is due to appear at Crown Court on June 15 for a plea and case management hearing.


Jayne Salt, head of the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service Complex Casework Unit, said: “These charges relate to the death on a construction site of Mark Handford when Gold allegedly struck the deceased with an excavator that he was operating.
“It is alleged that he then altered evidence at the scene, gave a false account to police of how the incident happened which caused them to investigate on a false basis and then in due course repeated that false account at an inquest.
“This decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
“After careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.”
A trial date has been provisionally set for September 3.
Mr Gold appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on March 5 for a preliminary hearing. No plea was taken and the defendant was released on bail.






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[Muz]

Do you have any more data on this Stock ? .. Ive had a look on the HSE's web site but cant see anything yet, it would be good to know more about the machine and type of hitch

[Stock]

http://mark-handford.gonetoosoon.org/

A digger driver is due to stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court following the death of a Solihull man on a building site.

Jonathan Gold, 47, is charged with perverting the course of justice, perjury and failing to ensure the safety of a non employee.

Site engineer Mark Handford, aged 22, died instantly when the bucket from an excavation digger came loose and fell on him as he helped to carry out levelling work on Claybrook Drive in Redditch on August 12, 2009. His family called for a mandatory ban on the type of digger mechanism involved after an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Gold was working as a subcontractor on the site and was trading as Gold Plant Hire.

Jayne Salt, head of the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service Complex Casework Unit, said: "These charges relate to the death on a construction site of Mark Handford when Gold allegedly struck the deceased with an excavator that he was operating.

"It is alleged that he then altered evidence at the scene, gave a false account to police of how the incident happened which caused them to investigate on a false basis and then in due course repeated that false account at an inquest. "This decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

"After careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case."

Mr Gold appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on March 5 for a preliminary hearing. No plea was taken and the defendant was released on bail.

A plea and case management hearing has been set for June 15. A trial date has been provisionally set for September 3.


THE boss of a promising young Midland engineer who died while at work on a building site told an inquest he tried to recreate the events leading up to his death to discover how the tragedy happened.

James Burke, company director for JA Burke Construction Ltd, told a jury at Worcestershire Coroner's Court he carried out a series of tests on an excavation digger after its bucket allegedly fell on 22-year-old site engineer Mark Handford on August 12 last year.

The inquest heard Mr Handford, from Shirley, died from "multiple head injuries" as he was overseeing levelling work at the new factory site in Redditch.

Mr Burke said he carried out checks on the Komatsu 360-degree excavator, saying: "I had my concerns that buckets can't just fall off a machine. I felt very uneasy. I needed to go back to the site myself to try and find out what had happened."

Mr Burke claimed the bucket fell to the ground during a test in which a large "safety pin" used to connect the bucket to the machine's quick-hitch device on its hydraulic arm was removed.

Driver tells of horror at young engineer's death

Sep 9 2010 by Sophie Cross, Birmingham Mail
A CONSTRUCTION worker told an inquest how he cradled the body of a young Midland site engineer after he was fatally struck by a bucket that fell off an excavation digger.
John Gold, who had been operating the machine, said he “screamed for help” after witnessing the bucket fall and then seeing 22-year-old Mark Handford lying on the floor.
A jury at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court yesterday returned a verdict of accidental death.
Mr Gold, a groundwork and landscaping contractor, had been working with Mr Handford to level ground at a construction site in Redditch. He described the “horrific” moment he saw the bucket fall as Mr Handford went to mark out another area of soil to be removed, saying: “Mark walked away from the machine, out of the danger zone. All of a sudden he turned back around.


“He went to bend down. The bucket of the machine dropped at the same time as he did that.
“I shouted out, hoping it had missed him. He was lying on the floor on his back. I cradled him in my arms and screamed for help.”
Dr Dominic Swan, a mechanical engineering expert for the Health and Safety Executive, suggested several factors contributed to the incident, without one of which “the accident might never have happened”. He said a back-up “safety pin” was not fitted or had fallen out, the bucket was raised, the engine was turned off and a check valve was leaking.







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[ianoz]

Is This the same Accident we talk about at the "other place "

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There was one in your locality that sparked the conversation in the other house..........................