THE owner of a recycling centre has been ordered to pay £75,000 following the 'entirely preventable' death of a young dumper truck driver in 2012.

Ben Sewell died while working at Dittisham Recycling Centre, Lapthorne Cross, which is owned by David Briton.

He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, and was probably thrown from the six tonne vehicle he was driving.

The company appeared before High Court judge Mr Justice Dingemans at Plymouth Crown Court last Friday for sentencing, having had previously pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety legislation.

Handing down the £50,000 fine with £25,000 costs, Mr Justice Dingemans said there had been a 'significant breach' of health and safety law.

The court was told Ben had been driving a Benford 6000 dumper truck, in which he was taking loads of oversized material to a crushing machine on a different level within the site.

Just before the incident, builder Sam Churchill had visited the site and chatted with Ben. He later described Ben's driving as 'fast and reckless', and noticed that he was bouncing out of the seat of the dumper.

Defence barrister Stephen Climie, however, noted that this style of driving was 'out of character'.

Shortly after Mr Church­ill's visit, employee Rhys Hickman noticed smoke coming from the dumper truck, which was lying on its side. Ben was on the ground, about 10 metres away from the vehicle. The emergency services were contacted, but Ben was pronounced dead at the scene. A post mortem later found he died from chest injuries.

Health and safety officers found the seatbelt of the dumper was tucked under the driver's seat. Other vehicles on the site had seatbelts fitted, although it was evident they were not routinely used, and one had no belt.

Barrister Alan Fuller, representing the Health and Safety Executive, said an expert found the seatbelt of the dumper had not been used regularly, and that wearing a belt would have prevented Ben being thrown from it.

Mr Fuller concluded that the risk of driving without a seatbelt was 'gross and obvious', and something the defendant should have been aware of. He said Mr Briton did tell people to wear seatbelts, but had not 'enforced it with any gusto'.

Defending barrister Stephen Climie gave a public apology from Dittisham Recycling Company and Mr Briton for their responsibility in Ben's death.

He said that Mr Briton's attitude towards health and safety was informed by the tragic death of his own father at the same site, something Mr Briton witnessed.

He was an individual who had, in his own mind, a positive and responsible attitude towards health and safety and his workforce, and had been 'markedly affected' by the death of Ben, a young colleague in whom he had taken an interest at the very beginning of his working life.

Mr Climie also noted that safety improvements had been made at the site following the incident, at the request of the HSE.

He added his client was anxious about the total the company might be faced with in fines and costs. The judge explained his decision would seek to avoid punishing innocent employees of the company, while ensuring the seriousness of the offence was properly recognised.

Mr Climie said Mr Briton had previously reinvested in the company by taking out a mortgage on his own home, something Mr Justice Dingemans said was an 'important point', as he did it to safeguard his employees' jobs. After a discussion of the company's finances, the judge said that £15,000 per year was a level of fine that would be 'manageable'.

Delivering his sentence, he described Ben as 'a much loved son and boyfriend', whose death had 'clearly devastated his family'.

Ben had not been wearing a seatbelt, though one was available, and he had been told that one should be worn.

But, the judge said, even though Mr Briton had 'moaned', he had not taken sufficient action to ensure that seatbelts were worn.

Ben had received on-the- job training, which the judge accepted some smaller companies did carry out, although no records had been kept.

He noted that in this area the law had 'a number of limitations', in that no price could be put on the loss of Ben's life, and he could only express sympathy with his family.

He also paid tribute to the 'dignified way' that members of Ben's family had listened to the day's proceedings.

The judge said there was an obvious risk of death from not wearing a seatbelt, and the company's health and safety compliance 'fell far below the relevant standards'. He said there were also issues with the maintenance of vehicles, the edging of the roads within the site, and their gradient, adding up to a 'significant breach' of the law.

However, Mr Briton had promptly accepted responsibility for the accident and cooperated with investigating authorities, the judge said. He had made genuine efforts to improve health and safety at the site, had engaged in dialogue with the HSE, and had taken a responsible attitude to health and safety following Ben's death.

Mr Justice Dingemans said the case proved that all accidents were expensive, not just in human terms, but in financial terms for the business concerned.

He judged that a 'fair and proper' penalty was £15,000 per year for five years, a total of £75,000, split into a fine of £50,000 and £25,000 costs.

Following the sentence, HSE inspector David Cory said: 'Ben's death was entirely preventable. The lack of competent training, poor monitoring and inadequate supervision of staff added up to a fatal combination.

'Although there were no witnesses, his injuries were consistent with being thrown from the truck.

'Dumper trucks are inherently unstable and dangerous machines to operate and the company had not enforced the necessary rules to make sure they were driven safely, including the full and proper use of the seat lap belts. Just under a third of all fatalities in the waste sector over the last five years have involved vehicles.

'If a vehicle has a roll over bar fitted to it the driver will also always need to use the seat belt – the safety place in an overturn is securely in the driver's seat, protected by the roll over bar and seat belt.

'Many people think they can jump clear but this is wrong. Roll overs just happen too fast and they get injured or killed by the vehicle as they try to jump clear.

'Dittisham Recycling knew about the importance of having staff competently trained. It had used an external trainer for staff in the past but had not done so for Ben or one of his colleagues at the time.

'Instead they relied upon in-house verbal and basic hands-on training, which was inadequate.

'Had Dittisham Recycling ensured staff were sufficiently trained, equipment was properly used and the legally required and frankly common sense safety rules enforced – especially for dumpers – then Ben would most likely be still be alive.

'Ben's mother Anna Sewell had previously told the HSE that "Ben was our only son and his death has left a massive hole in our lives – our house was always full of life. From the day of his death to the day of his funeral life was just a blur. It was all very distressing. Our memories of Ben will never go away".'

Talking to the Chronicle this week, Mrs Sewell said the family was satisfied with the sentence as she understood a larger fine may have resulted in the closure of the firm and the loss of jobs.

'The company failed in its duties and responsibilities and it was right that this was recognised,' she said. 'It did not have certain procedures in place which it should have.

'The past three years have been very difficult for us and nothing can bring Ben back. But we can now draw a line.'