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Splott Church collapse: Two men cleared of manslaughter

Family photo Jeffrey Joseph PleveyFamily photo
Scaffolder Jeff Plevey, 56, died when a wall collapsed at the derelict Citadel Church in Cardiff in 2017

Two men have been cleared of gross negligence manslaughter after a worker died following a church collapse.

But Keith Young, of Llandough, Vale of Glamorgan, and Stewart Swain, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, were both found guilty of health and safety breaches.

Scaffolder and father-of-two Jeff Plevey, 56, of Cardiff, was crushed to death at Splott's Citadel Church as he worked on its demolition in July 2017.

Young and Swain will be sentenced in the new year.

The jury at the Swansea Civic Centre found Young guilty of failure to discharge a duty, contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act.

His company, Young Contractors, was the demolition firm involved in the work.

Mr Plevey died when the rear wall of the church gave way as he worked on it.

Cardiff council report How the church, on Splott Road, looked in 2016Cardiff council report
The former church on Splott Road was undergoing demolition

Swain and his company, Swain Scaffolding Ltd, were also found guilty of a breach of the same act.

Mark Gulley, from Penarth, who is director of Amos Projects Limited, which had owned the Citadel since 2006, and Richard Lyons, from Bristol, a partner of Optima Scaffold Design Solutions Ltd, were found not guilty of health and safety offences.

Two other men, Phil Thomas, from Cardiff, who was Mr Young's health and safety advisor from South Wales Safety Consultancy Ltd, and Richard Dean, of Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, from NJP Consultant Engineers Ltd, have already pleaded guilty to health and safety offences.

They will all be sentenced in the new year.

@SPIRITismywolf Building collapse Cardiff@SPIRITismywolf
The body of Mr Plevey was recovered from rubble after the collapse in July 2017

Speaking after the verdict, Mr Plevey's children, Lauren and Joshua, said the process had been "difficult and challenging" for the family.

They said: "We wish to thank our family for supporting us from the very start, the police for their hard work into the investigation, and the rest of the team that worked tirelessly to get answers for our family.

"We are so glad we have finally come to the end of such a long drawn out process. We finally have closure, dad can now rest."

At the start of the trial, jurors heard railway workers on the nearby Splott Bridge heard a "loud crack" and "a bang, like a small explosion", before hearing workers shouting "run".

Mr Plevey's body was later found in the rubble.

Built in 1892, the church on Splott Road had been used by the Salvation Army before becoming vacant and falling into disrepair about 20 years ago, the trial heard.