"Bitter" family of mower death man hit out (From York Press)

"Bitter" family of mower death man hit out

12:31am Wednesday 16th April 2008 in News By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk

"I'm angry and bitter." Those were the feelings of the brother of a council gardener crushed to death in a freak accident as he cut grass.

City of York Council has been ordered to pay £40,000 in fines and costs after a court ruled it should have prevented the death of 54-year-old Frank Smith who was killed when the ride-on mower he was using careered out of control.

It toppled on to Mr Smith, of St Stephen's Road, Acomb, York, while he was mowing grass on an embankment at Water End, near Clifton Bridge, in July 2005.

Following a Health & Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, the council was fined £20,000 and told to pay £20,425 in costs.

The local authority says no disciplinary proceedings have been taken against any of its staff as a result of the incident.

York Crown Court heard Mr Smith was sent to Water End without supervision, the mower did not have safety equipment installed and the work on the 25-degree slope was against safety instructions drawn up by the vehicle's manufacturers, leading Recorder James Hill QC to say: "The death of Mr Smith was, in my judgement, entirely avoidable".

Mr Smith's brother, David, of Hayton, near Pocklington, said he hoped his brother's death would help ensure no other families suffered similar heartbreak.

"It does make me angry and bitter about the duty of care put in place," he said.

"I would have liked the fine to be a bit higher, but in reality that was the most that could be expected and we're glad it has been brought to a conclusion.

"The questions we had have been answered, although I still think somebody in a managerial position at the council should have been sacked because they clearly didn't do their job properly.

"But we want to thank the HSE for all the work they have done and we fully support everything they have tried to do to ensure this doesn't happen again. We just hope lessons have been learned for the future."

Mr Smith described his brother as "a hard-working, happy-go-lucky man who lived day to day and enjoyed his job".

He said he was now coming to terms with his loss. He said: "We all still miss him, but we have carried on as best we can. Now we are looking to draw a line under it."

The council, which admitted breaching health and safety legislation, said it had reviewed and improved its safety procedures since Mr Smith's death.

A spokeswoman said: "We are expecting to pay the fine and costs from areas of the council's budget which were underspent at the end of 2007/08.

"Both the council's own internal investigation into the incident and the HSE investigation found there was no one individual to blame. Accordingly, no disciplinary action has been taken."