Worker crushed by shredder after manager 'failed to isolate' machine, court hears

A labourer who worked for a waste company was crushed "within seconds" after falling into an industrial shredder at a waste disposal site while trying to clear a blockage, a court has heard.

The remains of David Willis, 29, who worked for Timmins Waste Services (TWS) in Wolverhampton, were never found after he fell inside the machine, which was designed to shred wood and other commercial waste, on September 15 2018.

TWS and yard manager Brian Timmins, 54, who was operating the diesel-powered machine at the time, are on trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court accused of “systemic failures” that led to Mr Willis’s death.

The waste company is charged with corporate manslaughter, while Timmins, of Fair Lawn, Albrighton, is charged with manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.

The court heard on Monday that Timmins was operating the shredder at the company’s yard in Mander Street when it stopped "abruptly".

Prosecutor Christine Agnew KC told the jury that Timmins approached the machine to investigate and then used a digger to lift Mr Willis up on top of the shredder, with CCTV evidence showing him working inside it.

She said: “Waste material can then be seen being ejected from the machine, demonstrating that the machine was still operational, still working whilst Mr Willis continued to work within.

“All of the guidance in relation to the operation of the shredder provided by the manufacturer stipulates that if someone is working inside the shredder it should be switched off.

“The reason is obvious – to avoid death or serious injury. It clearly was not switched off at the time David Willis was unblocking it.”

When Mr Willis disappears inside the machine, Timmins is seen on CCTV looking around the yard and inside the shredder’s ‘hopper’, which guides the waste towards the machine’s blades, before calling Mr Willis’s phone.

Ms Agnew said: “(It) does not connect. He looks out of the yard gates and then runs around the yard.

“He is almost certainly looking for Mr Willis. He must realise at that point that Mr Willis has fallen inside the shredder.”

Despite not finding Mr Willis, Timmins allegedly returns to the digger and continues to operate the shredder.

The next day, Timmins, and other employees who were working that day, loaded and disposed of 80 tonnes of recycled waste by taking it to a landfill site in Cannock, Staffordshire, which “must”, Ms Agnew told the court, have included the remains of Mr Willis.

She said it was the prosecution’s case that had “basic industry-standard safety precautions been in place, (Mr Willis) would not have died”.

She told the jury: “The prosecution say that there were systemic failures across the company’s approach to safety management, such as absent risk assessments, a failure to implement control measures, the absence of safe methods of working, working instructions, supervision and training.

“In particular the prosecution say that the failure by Brian Timmins to isolate and lock off the shredder, having used the digger himself to place Mr Willis within a position of danger, was directly causative of Mr Willis’s death.”

Mr Willis, who lived with his mother Caroline, was reported missing by her on the evening of September 15 when he did not return home to Tipton.

Ms Agnew told the jury that Mrs Willis had called Timmins just before 11pm to ask if he had seen him, but he said words to the effect of: “Not since this morning when he left and walked up the road.”

When police attended the yard on Monday September 17, CCTV footage showed that Mr Willis had fallen into the shredder, prompting a search of the landfill site in Cannock, and part of a tabard that may have belonged to him was discovered.

Timmins, who is on bail, appeared in the dock wearing a grey suit and a blue striped tie.

Ms Agnew said he has accepted that, as a manager of TWS he consented to or connived at the company’s failure to ensure the health and safety of its employees, but does not accept that his actions were negligent or caused Mr Willis’s death.

He also does not accept that he was “aware of what he had done” and that his actions afterwards were “designed to cover up his behaviour and pervert the course of justice”.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...

Ms Agnew said: “The Crown say that the conduct of Brian Timmins that day fell far below what would be expected of a reasonable and competent person in his position and was truly, exceptionally bad.”

She said that the company’s health and safety procedure “fell well short of where they should have been” and there was a “total disregard for workers’ safety”.

The prosecutor also alleged that Timmins “knew that Mr Willis had died in the shredder; he knew that some sort of criminal investigation, or judicial proceedings were inevitable and he took active steps to interfere with evidence and to conceal the facts of the death”.

There is no suggestion that Mr Willis was suffering from low mood or wanted to end his own life, Ms Agnew added, saying he had a close relationship with his family and was described by them as being “happy and bubbly” the day before his death.

The trial, in front of Mr Justice Jacobs, which is scheduled to last for up to four weeks, continues.