'Buried alive' employee defends boss in court
An employer of a ground worker, who was buried alive after a trench he was excavating collapsed, has been fined £3,500 for breaking health and safety laws.
Mark Miller, 40, of Mildenhall, was working in the hole on a building site when he was completely buried in the earth. His life was saved after his boss Anthony Hill, 58, used a digger to claw away the mounds of dirt.
Hill, of Sawston, who has run Hill Plant Hire for 30 years, was fined 3,500 after pleading guilty to two counts of breaching his duty to his employee and contravening a health and safety regulation. But Mr Miller, who broke his left leg in the incident, defended his boss in court and said: "If it wasn't for Mr Hill's skills with the digger, I wouldn't be here today."
He also volunteered to take partial blame for what happened and begged magistrates to 'be lenient on this superb employer'.
The court heard last Thursday that the pair, who had been colleagues for 13 years, had been working on a project to build stables, gallops and related facilities at Penny Farm, in Brinkley, Cambridgeshire.
Mr Miller, who was fully trained in health and safety matters, was left in charge of the excavation and was trying to 'batter back' the sides of the trench when it caved in on October 22, 2007.
Robin Cooper, prosecuting, said: "When the trench collapsed he was buried up to his lower abdomen and felt his left leg break. More earth collapsed on him, which buried him above the head."
When he heard what had happened, Hill rushed to the scene and immediately set about freeing him.
Andy Cave, in mitigation, said: "It was only through his skills with the digger that he excavated Mr Miller."
However Mr Miller's leg remained trapped and firefighters had to complete the rescue.
On top of his fine, Hill was also ordered to pay 2,000 costs and a 15 victim surcharge.
Presiding magistrate Rosie Spencer, said: "Let's hope there have been some lessons to learn from this. Don't ever let your employees get into a situation like that again."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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