Slieve Gullion: Council and firm fined over Matt Campbell's death

A council and a construction firm have been fined a total of £50,000 after admitting health and safety offences in relation to the death of an engineer.

Matt Campbell was killed in Slieve Gullion Park in September 2018.

An amber weather warning was in place in Northern Ireland on the day due to Storm Ali.

Mr Campbell, who was 24, was killed when a 200-year-old beech tree was uprooted and crushed him. A colleague was seriously injured.

Mr Campbell had been working for Lagan Construction Ltd as an electrical engineer and was finishing up work in the park when he went back to lock up a pumping station.

In previous court appearances, Newry Mourne and Down District Council as owners of Slieve Gullion Park and Lagan Construction had pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to make an appropriate risk assessment.

The council had also pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its employees and non-employees.At Newry Crown Court on Tuesday, the judge imposed a fine of £20,000 on Newry Mourne and Down Council and a fine of £30,000 on Lagan Construction.

Judge Paul Ramsey said the conclusion would do little to ease the grief of Mr Campbell's family and told the court the family had asked if it was possible that the fines be donated to local charities.

Quoting from a victim impact statement from Mr Campbell's father, the judge said: "Words can never describe the devastating effect Matthew's sudden unnecessary death has had on his family.

"He says that they all miss and think of him every second of every day. He was a wonderful son, whom we loved very much and still do.

"Matthew was a kind, generous, funny and loving young man who made us proud every day of his short life."

"Instead of Matthew bringing his children to visit his grandparents, we as Matthew's family are going to the grave to grieve and visit him, or to Slieve Gullion Forest Park where he had his last living moment.

"The hurt and the pain and the loss we feel will never end."

Speaking after the hearing, Katrina Murphy, a Health and Safety Executive NI inspector said: "This tragic incident needlessly claimed the life of a young man who was working in an area populated with mature trees during a severe weather event.

"It was also established that both employers were in receipt of Met Office weather warnings advising of a strengthening storm with the potential to cause danger to life.

"Weather warnings should always be considered. They are important and are designed to let people know what the impacts may be of severe weather, including strong winds."