A British-based construction firm was today fined €40,000 for a health and safety breach which led to the death of a four-year-old child in Dublin almost four years ago.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court penalised PJ Carey Contractors Ltd after it pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence which resulted in the death of Alex Cuthbert in Ballymun in August 2001.
The prosecution was taken by the Director of Publlic Prosecutions following an investigation undertaken by the Health and Safety Authority under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989.
The company pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 7.1 of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 1989 - failure to conduct their business with due care for members of the public.
Judge Kevin Haugh, who imposed the sentence, said the company should have implemented additional safeguards appropriate to the site and policed their own workforce.
"The same diligence shown in the preparation of the plans was not shown in the policing of the plans," he added.
Senior HSA inspector Jim Heffernan welcomed the verdict. "Having safety policies in place is one thing but actively implementing them is another," he said. "An important lesson from today's case is that safety procedures should be actively implemented and constantly monitored to ensure that construction work being carried out near public areas take account of all possible risks."
Alex Cuthbert was killed in the accident on the partially completed Ballymun Road/Sillogue Road link road on August 22nd, 2001.
PJ Carey Contractors Ltd was re-instating fencing along the main street in Ballymun opposite Ceanntt tower when the foreman for the operation directed that redundant fencing, which was surrounding a utility trench near to the basketball courts, be collected.
The trench was backfilled and the fencing panels removed, the pick up truck used to collect the panels reversed down the Ballymun Road/Sillogue Road link.
The dumper truck followed the pick up back down to the Ballymun Road. While reversing the pick up truck struck and killed the child.
The mother of Alex said after the verdict she will "never forgive" the contractors. Mrs Joan Landy of Main Street, Ballymun said she did not accept Judge Haugh's conclusion that the accident resulted from "human error" and claimed construction vehicles still reversed up the streets in Ballymun.
"The drivers treat children like skittles," she said.