A construction company has been hit with a fine of more than £500,000 for the corporate manslaughter of two men who died after falling into a building site it operated.
Monavon Construction, based in north London, pleaded guilty to the corporate manslaughter of Gavin Brewer, 32, and Stuart Meads, 34, at the Old Bailey on 9 May.
The company also pleaded guilty to an offence under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, namely the failure to discharge duty to a non-employee.
The incident happened at a site in Netley Street at the junction with Hampstead Road, NW1. Work had been ongoing at the site for approximately three years and construction was nearing its conclusion.
Brewer and Meads were walking in Netley Street in the early hours of Saturday, 19 October 2013. Both were arguing and scuffling with one another, and as the pair walked past the building site they made contact with the hoarding which gave way, sending both men falling into the basement area. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene following their fall.
The Metropolitan Police launched a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive. The investigation found that the hoardings had been fixed in such a way that only negligible force would have been required to make them give way.
Monavon was fined £250,000 for each death, as well as £50,000 for the breach of heath and safety legislation. They were also ordered to pay £23,653 prosecution costs.
