Firm fined £100,000 over boat engineer death

A firm has been fined £100,000 over the death of an apprentice engineer who inhaled toxic fire extinguisher spray in the engine room of a fishing boat.

Conor Moseley, 20, died on board the Resurgam on 15 November 2019 while it was moored in Newlyn, Cornwall.

Truro Crown Court heard about six people were working in the room at the time, which only had a single exit up a ladder as the room filled with the fire extinguishing aerosol.

The court heard there were failings which included no evacuation plan or sufficient leadership. Stevenson and Sons admitted two health and safety breaches.

Moseley's mother told the court she was not allowed to hold her son as he lay dying on the ship and his death had left a hole in their lives which would never be filled.

Defence lawyer Joss Ticehurst said the company expressed its remorse for his death but it was agreed that the primary cause of his death "lay with other parties".

He said the company had not sat back and had not ignored health and safety, and improvements had been made.

Judge Simon Carr criticised the "intolerable" seven year delay between the man's death and the court sentencing hearing.

He fined the company a total of £100,000 with a further £27,906 in costs and said that no fine could put a value on Moseley's life.

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