Belfast City Council has been fined £40,000 after a man died at its Dargan Road landfill site, in the north of the city. Belfast Crown Court heard that Ashley Cunningham suffocated in September 2006, when he was swept into the waste tip. The council admitted failing to ensure his safety.
In a statement, the council said it was "deeply upset and genuinely contrite that Mr Cunningham lost his life." Since the accident, it has conducted a fundamental review and invested significantly in health and safety procedures.
They commented, "We fully recognise and accept that all of the measures since taken, and our previously good record at the landfill site, is of little comfort to the Cunningham family and friends who have lost someone very dear. We don't underestimate the impact that this has had on the family and offer our genuine and heartfelt sympathies and condolences to them. We hope that the conclusion of this case will allow them the space, time and privacy to come to terms with their loss."
Imposing the fine, Mr Justice Hart said that while it "was trite to say that any penalty which the court imposes cannot restore Ashley to his family", such financial penalties were a reminder to all employers to carry out their responsibilities to others in a "robust and rigorous way."
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