Overview
- A 10ft trench at a Banstead, Surrey site collapsed on June 24, 2020, burying 33-year-old labourer Gheorghita Arsene while he worked to replace a damaged pipe.
- Health and safety inspectors found the excavation had no supports and that excavated soil had been piled beside the trench, increasing the risk of collapse.
- Following a more-than-three-month trial at the Old Bailey, Appledorn Developments Limited and T Vaughan Limited were found guilty of failing to discharge health and safety duties under the 1974 Act.
- Contracts manager Anthony O’Connor pleaded guilty to a related health and safety offence while a jury discharged on his manslaughter charge and two other managers were cleared or acquitted.
- Emergency crews were unable to give chest compressions because the weight of soil trapped the victim and sentencing has been adjourned to 7 September with a pre-sentence report to be prepared, a result that could sharpen enforcement and industry safety practice.