Martin Simmons became trapped in a newly installed tyre shredding machine in 2019 before passing away from his injuries more than two weeks later
Never miss the latest local news again by signing up to our Daily Newsletter
We have more newsletters
A Forest of Dean business man has gone on trial for the alleged manslaughter of a 38-year-old employee in 2019.
Kyle Gettings was a director of Capital Metals Ltd, a now liquidated company that was trading at the New Dunn Business Park in Sling when Martin Simmons became trapped in a newly installed tyre shredding machine on February 20, 2019. But despite medical intervention, Mr Simmons died from his injuries on March 6, 2019.
Mr Gettings, wearing a green shirt and black trousers, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court that as sole director of Capital Metals Ltd between January 1, 2019 and February 21, 2019, he failed to discharge his duty in ensuring the health and safety of his employees while working with machinery during the process of shredding tyres.
READ MORE: Pilot who died in Herefordshire plane crash named as Falklands war hero
Mr Gettings, 35, of Marten Road, Chepstow, also a director of Forest Metals Ltd and K & B Recycling Ltd, denied a charge that on March 6, 2019 he unlawfully killed Martin Simmons by gross negligence.
Prosecutor Philip Stott told the jury of nine women and three men that the victim Mr Simmons was employed as a labourer by Mr Gettings. On that day Mr Simmons was both loading tyres onto the conveyor belt at the beginning of the shredding process and overseeing the shredded tyres as it left the machine on the second conveyor belt.
Mr Stott said: “Mr Gettings was responsible for taking care of his employees. But he failed in his duty in respect of the dangerous moving parts and the set up a conveyor belt connected to the tyre shredding hopper.
“The machinery didn’t have any guard rail protection on one conveyor belt. This is neglect as anybody could easily become trapped within its workings. There was no process to stop this from happening while the machinery was running.
“The prosecution say that the machinery that Mr Simmons was working with, was a literal death trap.
“This operation was so bad and so obviously dangerous, that there was a serious and obvious risk to those using that machine. These risks should have been reasonably foreseeable to Mr Gettings.
“Mr Gettings’ negligence, which resulted in the eventual death of Mr Simmons, was so bad that it should be viewed as gross negligence.”
The jury was told that Mr Gettings had taken over a company that shredded tyres on the same business park that he was running another business. The new shredding machine had been purchased by the previous company, but had never installed it.
The jury heard that pressure had been applied to Mr Gettings to get things moving as the company had a mountain of tyres to shred, running into thousands of tyres.
The tyre shredder was subsequently set up and wired in by outside electricians. However Mr Gettings didn’t have the machine’s operating manual and had turned to Google to set the machine up.
Mr Stott added: “But due to an incorrect set up of the hopper, the shredder itself, a chute leading from the machine towards the second conveyor belt would frequently get blocked which then had to be freed up by the workers.
“The conveyor belt would also jam up with pieces of tyre. The practice should have been that the machine should have been turned completely off while these tasks were carried out.”
The jury were then shown video footage that was provided by a television production company which had been filming the tyre shredding operation for the series 'Scrap Kings’ the day before the incident.
Mr Simmons, along with other employees of Capital Metals, were filmed operating the ill-fated machinery and the conveyor belt without any safety guards on it. It was alleged that the employees did not turn off the machinery when clearing it of debris and freeing up the jammed conveyor belt, despite being trained to do so by Mr Gettings.
“At 4pm on February 20, 2019 there was another incident in which the shredding machine had become jammed,” said Mr Stott. “There was a partially shredded tyre stuck in the chute and the blockage was so great that it touched the conveyor belt while it was still moving.
“Jack Major, another employee, began to clear the floor around the conveyor belt of debris while Mr Simmons was under the chute pulling out the tyres and was crouching down towards the conveyor belt whilst it was still moving as they had not turned the machinery off.
“Mr Major suddenly heard Mr Simmons shout out in distress as he was dealing with a big roller. Mr Simmons’ right arm had got stuck inside the roller. His eyes went to the back of his head and he was turning purple in the face.
“Mr Major immediately turned the machine off and ran into the yard shouting for help. He rang the emergency services. Mr Gettings then appeared on the scene.
“The call handler gave the standard advice not to try and free the victim from the machinery, but after eight minutes the staff told the medics on the phone that Mr Simmons was not breathing. A paramedic appeared on line and told them that under the circumstances Mr Simmons should be freed from the machinery and that CPR should be immediately performed on him.
“The staff using disc cutters freed Mr Simmons from the machinery as the first ambulance crew arrived at the scene at 4.28pm. Other paramedics also began arriving at the business park as did a crew from Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue.
“A Great Western Air Ambulance also landed at the site at 4.40pm and on board was a specialist trauma doctor. Mr Simmons was flown to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for treatment.
“Sadly, because of his asphyxiation, his injuries were too serious for Mr Simmons to recover from, he died 15 days later on March 6.”
The jury was told that the machinery was subsequently examined by health and safety inspectors.
Trial Judge William Hart told the jury: “Any case involving a death is likely to evoke some emotion. But as jurors you must not let any emotion to cloud your judgement in any way in coming to a verdict.”
The trial continues and is expected to last three weeks.
Get all the stories you love straight to your inbox. Sign up for the Gloucestershire daily newsletter today right here .
MORE NEWS: