A construction director was jailed this week for eight years following the death of a worker on a housing renovation project in Suffolk.
Peter Clifford, 63, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court to gross negligence manslaughter after labourer Dale Baker was killed when a trench collapsed on the site in Woodbridge, Suffolk, in December 2020.
The trial, following a joint investigation by the police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), found that the trench was insufficiently supported and that the excavation was dangerously close to the foundations of an adjacent conservatory.
Clifford’s company, Hintonwood East Anglia, was building an extension for the house owners. On the day of his death, a building inspector came to examine a trench that was being dug along the side of a conservatory attached to the house.
Director ignores site inspector advice
The police said the inspector told Clifford he would need to dig an inspection hole to see where the basement wall was, as this would determine what type of foundation would be required for the extension. As a result, Clifford then dug down deeper in the trench.
Baker died when the side of the trench, dug as part of the works, collapsed on him, followed by the foundations of the home’s conservatory.
“The investigation found that Clifford either took no steps to support the side of the trench, or took steps that were completely inadequate,” the police said. A post-mortem found that Baker’s cause of death had been suffocation.
Clifford absconds and found in Scotland
Clifford initially denied responsibility, pleading not guilty to manslaughter, but subsequently went missing ahead of the originally planned trial in March 2022.
In March last year, a warrant for Clifford’s arrest was issued after he failed to attend court. By July of that year, he was found and arrested in Scotland before being transported back to Suffolk.
Clifford also pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to discharge the employer’s general duty under health and safety rules. Clifford’s company admitted to the same charges relating to health and safety rules, and he was also banned as a company director for 10 years.
