Travis Perkins fined £2m after dad-of-three killed by timber-load lorry fall

A major building supplies firm has been fined £2 million after a “grossly inadequate and unsafe” timber load fell from a lorry and killed a dad-of-three in an oncoming car.

Jack Stevens, 28, was driving his BMW when materials pierced his windscreen and killed him on the A26 in Newhaven, East Sussex on May 13 2020.

Travis Perkins Trading Company Limited pleaded guilty to three offences under health and safety laws in November last year.

Prosecutor Richard Heller told Hove Crown Court on Thursday that the business, said to be the largest in the UK operating around 600 outlets, admitted a breach of general duty and two regulatory breaches over the fatal incident.

At the sentencing hearing, footage showed the moment the timber came loose and hit Mr Stevens’ car and across the road.

Mr Heller said further footage not shown in court also captured “other road users being visibly shocked upon looking into the car”.

A review of how the timber load was secured was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive concluded “the security of the load was grossly inadequate and unsafe from the point of entering the public road network”, the court heard.

It added that the incident was “entirely foreseeable and preventable” with proper planning and practices in place after the mass of six timbers and other materials was secured with an “insufficient” single strap.

The court heard the load had been checked by the driver and another employee before leaving the company’s site in Newhaven at around 7:30am.

But according to company policy, the lorry should have been checked by a member of branch management staff, which the assisting employee was not.

Mr Heller added: “The prosecution asserts that the load was unsafe due to inadequate training of staff in load security, compounded by a failure to ensure proper procedures were being observed to prevent an accident of this kind occurring.”

The parents of Mr Stevens, who was a manager at B&Q, sat in court as it was heard the couple suffered from “extreme anxiety” since their son’s death.

The court also heard how there had been previous incidents of loads coming off during travel, including three steel bars that fell off and struck another car but did not injure anyone in April 2019.

It was also raised the driver in May 2020 had been involved in previous incidents in his five-year employment, which had been reported but on one occasion not recorded, and another instance a need for training was flagged but there was “no clear evidence” the company could know the training had been learnt by the driver.

Imposing the £2 million fine on Travis Perkins, Judge Christine Henson KC said: “This was a tragedy that could and should have been avoided.

“Travis Perkins would have been aware of their health and safety obligations and how they should have been fulfilled.

“The defendant company failed in this regard.”

But the judge took into account “proactive” steps made by the company since Mr Stevens’ death to improve safety.

Defending the company, Kate Brunner KC made a full apology to the family over the incident which the company takes “full responsibility” for.

“The significant failures, which there were, have been recognised and owned and acted upon by the company in the fullest way possible and that reflects the seriousness the company takes a tragic incident of this kind,” Ms Brunner said.

She told the court how the builders’ merchant has “driven industry-wide improvements” on safety and rolled out new training and a “robust system” for spot-checking through CCTV and paperwork to make sure load safety measures are done properly.

In a statement from Keith and Amanda Stevens following the sentencing, they said: “Whilst today brings some justice for Jack, we will never forget our kind and dear son who we all miss so very much.

“Our son’s life ended that day and we will never watch his life unfold or see him grow older or play with his children, or do all the things that most fathers do.

“Our family is still finding it hard to comprehend the loss of Jack and to move on with our lives, as the memory and futility of what happened to Jack is still very raw and emotional.”

Lewes District Council, which brought the prosecution, worked on the investigation collaboratively with the Health and Safety Executive.

Council deputy leader Christine Robinson: “I hope our prosecution sends a strong message to businesses that it is of the utmost importance they adhere to health and safety legislation to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

Travis Perkins was also ordered to pay £85,000 in court costs.

Following the sentencing, Robin Miller, general counsel and company secretary for Travis Perkins, added: “Travis Perkins holds itself to the highest standards of health and safety.

“Immediately following this tragic incident, we undertook a detailed internal investigation, resulting in decisive action to implement a wide range of enhanced training across the whole organisation as we strive to ensure an incident like this is never repeated.”