A car dealer must pay more than £9,000 in fines and costs after a visitor to his premises was seriously injured when he fell down an unprotected drop.
When the visitor opened the tailgate of a car for sale, he fell backwards and toppled over a wall, falling down 6ft on the other side to a Tarmac road beneath, a court heard.
He sustained serious injuries which hospitalised him for five weeks and he continues to be affected by the incident which happened on 2 February 2022.
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Michael Davies of Autodeals of Stroud admitted a charge of failing in his duty to ensure the safety of visitors to his work premises and was sentenced when he appeared before magistrates on Tuesday, February 25.
In a video shown to magistrates, the visitor can be clearly seen opening a car boot which pushed him backwards to where a fence should have been. With nothing to stop him, he fell head over heels and hit the road surface 6ft below with considerable force.
The victim suffered a serious neck injury which has affected his mobility to this day. The bench at Gloucestershire Magistrates Court in Cheltenham was told that the event had been life-changing for him.
He consented to Stroud District Council releasing the video of his fall to help emphasise why health and safety must be taken seriously in workplaces. Railings have since been installed around the top of the wall at the car dealership in Stratford Road, Paganhill.
Mr Davies pleaded guilty to one charge at the same court on December 9, 2024. At the sentencing hearing on Tuesday he was fined £3,600 and ordered to pay all the council’s costs of £5329.50p and a victim surcharge of £190 – £9,119.50p in total.
After the sentencing hearing, SDC Health and Safety Officer David Peacock who investigated the incident said: “The victim was very badly injured by an entirely foreseeable event. The low wall which the injured person fell over had concrete posts along its length and had clearly been designed to have fence panels installed to guard the drop below.
“If this fence had been maintained visitors would have been prevented from falling.
“This case shows the importance of conducting a suitable and sufficient health and safety risk assessment of the workplace, identifying hazards to the public and visitors as well as employees.”
Chloe Turner, Chair of SDC’s Environment Committee added: “This was a dreadful and entirely avoidable incident which left the victim very seriously hurt. I am grateful to our health and safety officers for investigating this case.”
