Factory directors on manslaughter charge

Graham Coupe, left, Richard Williams and Kevin Palliser, right, the directors of Lion Steel, deny charges of manslaughter and neglect

THREE company bosses, including a Shaw man, are accused of causing the death of an odd-job worker who fell through a skylight at a three-storey factory.

Stephen Berry (45) died after falling 40ft from a leaky roof he was working on at the premises of Lion Steel Equipment Ltd, of Johnson Brook Road, Dukinfield.

Four years on, the directors of Lion Steel, a company which makes metal shop-fittings, are on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of causing his death by gross negligence.

It is alleged the married father of two had received no health and safety training for the work he was doing, and wasn’t properly equipped.

Lion Steel’s directors, Kevin Palliser (59), of Rishworth Rise, Shaw, Richard Williams (42), of Priory Close, Hawarden, North Wales, and Graham Coupe (59), of Hampshire Close, Glossop, deny charges of manslaughter and neglect. The company itself is accused of breaching its duty under the Health and Safety Act.

Opening the case, Simon Jackson QC claimed it had been simpler for the firm to leave Stephen Berry to get on with it rather than get a roofing contractor to do the repair.

He claimed Stephen Berry’s death was due to the lack of any company system to protect him — due to the failure of the directors.

Proceeding.



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