Ferryspeed CI, represented by its general manager, David Houghton, appeared before the Royal Court yesterday where it was heard that the company had failed to carry out a mechanical inspection of the tail lift since buying the trailer in 2011.
The incident – which happened on 29 March when a driver was unloading at Waitrose in Rue des Prés – ‘could have been fatal’, Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, prosecuting, told the court. He added that it was only thanks to a pedestrian barrier – on which the trolleys came to rest – that the driver was not crushed.
On the day of the collapse, the employee had made five trips between the Harbour and the St Saviour supermarket, the court was told. Advocate Pedley said that during earlier trips the driver had noticed the lift ‘juddering’ and had mentioned it to managers but that nothing had been done.
Advocate Pedley said that between February 2020 and January 2021 six faults had been reported with the trailer by drivers and all had related to the tail lift. No action was recorded as having been taken in response, the court heard. He called for the company to be fined £60,000.
Advocate Adam Harrison, defending, said the £60,000 figure was too high and instead called for a fine of £40,000 to be imposed.
He said that the business had a policy of inspecting all tail lifts every six months on its fleet of 103 vehicles and 63 trailers. He added that this had been an ‘isolated’ incident in which one tail lift within the firm’s fleet had ‘slipped through the net’ and said that the failure was ‘not representative of Ferryspeed’s approach generally’.
‘There is no evidence of a failure to examine any other trailers and this is an isolated example,’ Advocate Harrison said.
Since the incident, he added, systems had been implemented to ensure managers were notified when trailers and vehicles were due for essential maintenance. He highlighted the company’s lack of previous convictions, its early guilty plea and how it had operated for 36 years without prior health-and-safety infractions.
Lieutenant-Bailiff Tony Olsen, presiding, said it had been a ‘miracle’ that the trolleys had been stopped from falling on top of the driver by a pedestrian barrier and added that the court ‘shuddered’ to think what might have happened had it not been there.
‘The risk of potential harm was high. It is a matter of good fortune that he did not suffer more serious injuries or even lose his life,’ Mr Olsen said.
‘It is very fortunate that this prosecution is not taking place in the background of the death of one of Ferryspeed’s employees.’
Jurats Charles Blampied and Robert Christensen were also sitting. As well as the £55,000 fine, Ferryspeed were also ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.
