Last month, a workman was found guilty of manslaughter after a woman (Mrs Lunn) was killed when a faulty powered gate that he had fitted for her, fell and trapped her underneath.
Robert Churchyard, previously the director of Automated Garage Doors and Gates, was found guilty after a trial at Norwich Crown Court. He is due to be sentenced on 30 October 2017.
The Court heard that the iron gate , which was installed in March 2013, weighed approximately one third of a tonne. A stop to keep the gate on the rails had not been fitted, but Mr Churchyard argued that members of the victim’s family had removed it.
On 17 April 2013, Ms Lunn arrived at her home in Norfolk and drove her car through the open gate and onto the drive. She then went to close the gate behind her using the remote control; however it failed to work. The Court heard that this was not the first time this had happened.
When Ms Lunn attempted to close the gate manually, it fell over and trapped her underneath. During the time that she was trapped she suffered a fatal heart attack.
Following the incident, a joint investigation was carried out by Norfolk Constabulary, the Trading Standards Team at Norfolk County Council and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and found multiple faults with the gate, which had been manufactured and installed by Automated Garage Doors and Gates.
On the day of the incident, the gate had failed to work properly in its electrically powered mode because the optical safety device had come out of alignment, which disabled the elective drive.
Ms Lunn had been shown how to operate the gate on several occasions. However, she had not been provided with an instruction book or manual.
The investigation had also brought to light that Automated Garage Doors and Gates had failed to provide a mechanism to prevent the gate from falling, such as a ‘shoe stop’ or bracket.
The Court heard that a complete technical file, which would have demonstrated how the machine meets the necessary safety standards and identify installation deficiencies, had not been produced as part of the installation process.
Since 2005 there have been seven deaths in the UK and Ireland, nine serious injuries and countless near misses caused by dangerous powered gates. It is estimated that only 30% of the 500,000 automated gates in service in the UK are safe to use.
An HSE Inspector commented;
This case is a stark demonstration of what happens when companies do not comply with the relevant legislation relating to the safety of machinery. The industry must learn from the tragic death of Jill Lunn so no other family suffers the same loss. There is plenty of guidance available to help businesses ensure they put in place the basic safeguards and provide their customers with the necessary information to operate them safely.
