'Dial-a-ride' death council fined

A council and two taxi firm operators have been fined more than £15,000 over the death of a man whose electric buggy fell from the back of a minibus. James Hunt, 85, was fatally injured when the lift on Hartlepool Council's dial-a-ride bus malfunctioned.

The council and taxi operators Ian Cameron and Gerald Nicholson admitted breaching Health and Safety laws. The local authority was fined £10,000 and Mr Cameron and Mr Nicholson £5,000 and £300 respectively.

Mr Hunt, from Seaton Carew, had used the dial-a-ride service to take him to Hartlepool's Morrisons supermarket on 19 January 2005. He reversed his buggy onto the vehicle's tail lift, but the stop plate did not hold and he fell about 3ft to the ground. The 150kg (330lbs) buggy fell on top of him, causing serious head and chest injuries. He was taken to the University Hospital of Hartlepool, where he later died.

A HSE spokesman said the council, Mr Cameron and Mr Nicholson were all responsible for failing to properly maintain the taxi's lift. Mr Cameron, of Hartlepool's Mainsforth Terrace, owns Cameron Taxis and had subcontracted the service to Mr Nicholson, of Blakelock Road. They operated dial-a-ride on behalf of Hartlepool Council.

All three breached Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Speaking outside Hartlepool Magistrates' Court, Mr Hunt's son-in-law Ray Rowntree said: ""The accident was completely avoidable. It need not have happened and if the correct safety procedures had been carried out it probably wouldn't have happened. Hartlepool Council, Ian Cameron and Gerald Nicholson are responsible to provide as safe a public service as possible. In this case I don't feel it happened, and because of this a man lost his life."