Craig Hassall Prosecutes company for fatal accident at Mill works on behalf of the HSE

Instructed by the Health & Safety Executive, Craig Hassall  appeared yesterday  at Leeds Crown Court where HHJ Stubbs Q.C. sentenced IFG Drake Ltd for breaching health and safety regulations which resulted in the death of one of its workers Mr. Javeed Ghaffar.

Mr Ghaffar died in March 2017 at the defendant company’s premises at Victoria Mills in Huddersfield. He had been working on a piece of machinery manufacturing fine polypropylene fibres, used in the manufacture of tea bags. A quantity of fibres had become wrapped around one of the rollers in the machine – a regular occurrence which required manual clearance by operatives. Mr Gaffar was attempting to clear the blockage when he was dragged into the machine and tragically died as a result of his injuries.

Following a guilty plea to a charge under section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 of failing to discharge duty the company received a fine of £366,850 and were ordered to pay costs of £23,933.41

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Craig Hassall is Head of the Regulatory and Public Law Team at PSQB, and an A-List Specialist Regulatory Advocate, he appears for the prosecution or defence in a wide range of regulatory cases. His regulatory practice includes serious health and safety cases, often involving fatalities and substantial environmental crime cases. He has significant experience of fire safety and food safety cases, with a particular interest in allergens.

Contact our regulatory clerk:

Madeleine Gray on 0113 202 8603