Contractor sentenced after teen fell to death
Friday 13th February 2026
A self-employed contractor has been jailed after a teenager fell to his death during the demolition of a property. He pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was jailed for a period of 12 months.
The teenager had been hired to assisted with the demolition of a garage at a domestic property and was on the garage roof removing tiles when he fell through an opening and suffered severe head injuries.
An investigation by the HSE found that there were no measures in place to prevent a fall from height, and identified other concerns, such as an unsafe mini-digger and a failure to stop the public entering the site. No assessment as to the presence of asbestos had been carried out despite being present.