Prestatyn grandad with 'heart of gold' bled to death trapped in 'lethal' machinery

The boss of a worker who bled to death in a horrific accident at a recycling plant has been jailed.

Stephen Jones, 60, was found responsible for the death of his employee Norman Butler in a machine which was "primed and ready to kill", said a judge.

Mr Butler, a 60-year-old grandfather from Prestatyn, was an employee of Recycling Cymru Ltd in Kinmel Bay when the fatal accident occurred on November 30, 2017.

On the day of his death, Mr Butler had picked up a load of waste and driven it to the unit, arriving at 3.55 pm.

Working alone, Mr Butler put the waste on to the conveyor belt of a baling machine - a piece of machinery which uses force to shape waste cardboard and paper into bales.

The machine jammed - which the judge concluded "it often did" - and Mr Butler went to the top of the conveyor belt to try to get the blocked machine going again by forcing the blockage down through the hopper.

Mr Butler then fell into the machine and down into the path of the hydraulic ram, where his foot was cut completely off at the ankle.

Trapped, Mr Butler had no way of calling for help and there was no-one else there to see what had happened.

Mr Butler's body was found at the bottom of the machine when another driver came back three hours later to drop off his own load. He was found to have bled to death.

Safety paperwork was 'for show'

The judge Mr Justice Griffiths condemned multiple safety breaches by Jones in that he failed to train Mr Butler properly, failed to ensure staff never worked alone and didn't have a guard around the hopper into which Mr Butler fell.

Safety paperwork was "for show" and Jones prioritised maximising profits over time-consuming and costly safety measures, said the judge.

He said: "Norman Butler was a fit and healthy 60-year-old when he was killed by an accident at work for which you Stephen Jones, as his boss, and Recycling Cymru Ltd, were entirely responsible. He was generous, funny, compassionate and warm-hearted.

"His death has left a void in the lives of his daughter, granddaughter and three brothers which no sentence can possibly ever fill. This was an accident waiting to happen. It could have happened to anyone."

He fell down into a "lethal machine primed and ready to kill". He told Jones: "Your conduct was so truly and exceptionally bad in all the circumstances as to be criminal."

Jones showed little reaction as he was sentenced to nine years in prison. He will serve two thirds of the nine year sentence. The judge also disqualified Jones from being a company director for nine years.

'A devoted family man'

Prosecutor Craig Hassall QC read out a victim statement by Norman Butler's daughter Jessica Williams which said: "My Dad was a strong and devoted family man....for that to be taken away so suddenly truly broke me. I not only lost my Dad but my best friend who had a heart of gold."

She told how he helped her to bring up her own daughter and the fact she will never see him smile or hug ever again causes her much pain. Ms Williams added: "He always made me laugh and was always there to wipe away the tears".

She said: "My daughter asks 'What happened to Grandad?' but I can't bring myself to answer that."

Following her father's death when she was 25, Ms Williams said she had to move out of the house they shared and became homeless. She lost her job and had to arrange his funeral - the first she had ever gone to. Now she is still having counselling and panics when trying to contact relatives if there is no immediate answer.

In another victim statement, Mr Butler's brother Joseph Butler said he's still traumatised by what happened. He described the "shock and horror and the awful way in which Norman died. I will never get over it."