Four companies and four individuals have been fined nearly half a million pounds and given suspended prison sentences following the death of a construction worker in 2017. An 11-week trial heard that 55-year-old Jeffrey Joseph Plevey died when a derelict building on which he was working fell down on 18 July 2017.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Liam Osborne said:

“Jeff Plevey died because people were put to work on a scaffold against a towering stone wall that managers, safety professionals and contractors knew, or could see, was obviously unstable before work started. The demolition and scaffolding were badly planned, and dangerously carried out from the very beginning and throughout the job. Instead of the building being made safer as demolition progressed, it became even more unstable. Those people who made bad decisions, gave poor advice or failed to act in the face of extreme and obvious risk have now been held accountable.”

Scaffolds present two main threats – the safety of those working on it, and the safety of those in the nearby vicinity. Reasonable steps must be taken by those in control to ensure work is undertaken safely on site. Steps could include checking scaffolders’ training and ensuring they follow proper safety standards.

Cardiff Crown Court fined four companies – three of them linked to the individuals sentenced – more than £90,000 each over the incident at the former Citadel Church in the city:

• Swain Scaffolding Ltd was fined £120,000 with costs of £25,000.
• South Wales Safety Consultancy Ltd was fined £97,500 with £17,500 costs.
• NJP Consultant Engineers Ltd was fined £93,300 with £6,700 in costs.
• Strongs Partnership Ltd was fined £33,500 with £17,500 in costs.

Keith Young was given a 45-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay costs of £66,000. Swain Scaffolding’s Stewart Swain was handed a 39-week sentence, suspended for 15 months, and told to pay costs of £25,000. South Wales Safety Consultancy’s Philip Thomas received a 36-week sentence, suspended for 15 months. He must pay costs of £20,000. Richard Dean, a director of NJP Consultant Engineers, was handed a 35-week sentence, suspended for 15 months, and must pay costs of £20,000.

Young and Swain were both convicted of criminal health and safety offences in December 2021. Thomas, Dean and Strongs Partnership pleaded guilty to health and safety offences prior to the trial.

Detective inspector Stuart Wales, from the South Wales Police Major Crime Investigation Team, said:

“Jeff Plevey was an experienced scaffolder and a popular, hardworking man who was owed a duty of care when he went into work that day. Our thoughts are with Jeff’s family and friends, who have waited four and a half years to see justice done.”