Chippenham fencing firm faces retrial

Father-of-one Christopher Lewis, 38, of Marshfield Road, Chippenham, died after a lorry struck his parked van and sent it hurtling towards where he was standing in a closed-off section of road.

Mr Lewis and his colleagues fled as the vehicle shot across the road, but he was unable to escape and was crushed to death against the barrier of the hard shoulder.

The three firms who were responsible for the works at the Holmesdale Tunnel in Enfield, Middlesex, where the accident occurred on August 18, 2004, were later charged with health and safety breaches. Carillion Highway Maintenance Ltd, the primary contractor responsible for repairing the lighting in the tunnel, admitted its failure to discharge its health and safety duty.

Mr Lewis’ employer CD Fencing and Construction Services Ltd, of Cocklebury Road, Chippenham, was contracted to deal with the removal of fencing in the central reservation so traffic could be diverted onto the opposite carriageway of the motorway, while traffic management specialist Traffic Management (North East) Ltd (TMNE), was contracted to set out cones and signs to divert the traffic.

Both firms denied health and safety breaches, and were tried by a jury at Southwark Crown Court in Central London last week.

After deliberating for six hours and 35 minutes, the jury found TMNE, which has since gone into administration and was not represented in the trial, unanimously guilty of two breaches.

But CD Fencing faces a retrial on a similar charge after the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Traffic Management, of Durham, denied two failures under the Health and Safety Act. CD Fencing denies one failure under the Act.

Carillion, based at Wolverhampton, and TMNE will be sentenced following the retrial of CD Fencing.

An inquest into the death of Mr Lewis recorded a verdict of accidental death. He left behind fiancée Kim Lord, 27, and son Lawrence, one at the time.