Paul Kelso
Thursday November 8, 2001
The Guardian

A student decapitated by the jaws of a crane excavator two hours after starting work at a dockyard was the victim of gross and criminal negligence on the part of his employer, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

Simon Jones, 24, was killed in May 1998 on his first day's employment as a stevedore at Shoreham harbour, West Sussex. The jaws of a clam-shaped grab, used for moving large quantities of slag and aggregate, accidentally closed over his head and neck fracturing his skull and severing his head. He died within seconds.

Shipping company Euromin Ltd and Richard Martell, the general manager of Euromin's Shoreham base, deny charges of manslaughter. Euromin denies a further three charges of health and safety regulations in connection with Mr Jones's death.

Patrick O'Connor, opening the case for the prosecution, said Mr Jones had been sent to work for one day as a casual labourer at Shoreham harbour by employment agency Personnel Selection.

He arrived for work at 8am, and was told to assist in the unloading of bags of stones and loose aggregate from the hold of the Cambrook, a Polish cargo ship that had docked that morning. Mr Jones was given no instruction by anyone in a position of responsibility, and was issued with no safety equipment.

The court heard his job was to attach the bags of stones to chains hanging from the underside of the clam-shaped grab, which was open. He was killed when the lever that operated the jaws of the grab got caught in the clothing of the crane operator, Jim Harris, causing the jaws to close.

Mr O'Connor said Mr Harris could not see inside the hold. "Simon Jones was placed beneath and at times between the jaws of that grab," Mr O'Connor said. "He was placed in danger of his life because the grab weighs over two tonnes and closes silently and quickly in about two seconds.

"At about 10.15am Simon Jones was killed when the jaws closed suddenly, crushing his head. He died of massive fractures to the skull."

The court heard the accident happened so fast that Sean Currey, who was working alongside Mr Jones, was not aware of it until he heard a noise.

Mr O'Connor said that although Mr Martell was not present on the morning that Mr Jones was killed he was in sole charge of safety at the site, and had devised the system which led to the death. He said Martell's actions had shown a wilful disregard for danger to human life. The role of Mr Harris, who had since died, was "inadvertent and accidental," Mr O'Connor said.

The court heard that operating instructions posted inside the cab of the excavator crane were ignored by Euromin in ordering Mr Jones into the hold below the clam-shaped grab. The instructions made it clear that no one should be in the grab's area of operation during its use.

The court heard that there was no need for the clam-shaped grab to be used at all, as Euromin had a hook attachment on site that could have been used, allowing the bagged stones to be removed with ease.

Ten weeks before the accident Mr Martell ordered staff to weld hooks to the inside of the clam-shaped grab, so that instead of stopping work to change the excavator attachment, the hooks could be used with the jaws of the grab open.

There were other factors that contributed to Mr Jones's death. The "hatchman" responsible for communications between the crane operator and the hold was a Polish seaman, rather than an experienced hatchman.

Mr O'Connor said that Mr Martell's management of the Euromin site meant he was culpable in the death of Mr Jones.

The trial continues.