A North London businessman has been jailed following the tragic death of a worker who fell from the roof of a commercial property in Neasden.
Patrick McCarthy, trading as All Care Home Improvements, received a 14-month custodial sentence after the incident involving Mr Andrei-Ionel Hutanu, who died a week later.
The incident occurred on August 19, 2019, when Mr Hutanu and a co-worker were conducting repairs on the roof of the commercial premises. Mr Hutanu, aged 33, fell approximately 16 feet from a tiled pitched roof onto a concrete alleyway below.
The fall resulted in a fractured neck and severe head injuries. Mr Hutanu was airlifted to St Marys Hospital in Paddington, where he passed away on August 26, 2019.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident, revealing that McCarthy, aged 37, had failed to implement any measures to prevent falls from height, such as scaffolding around the building or flat roof where both men were working.
McCarthy pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and received his 14-month custodial sentence on April 4, 2023.
HSE Inspector Philip Jordan emphasized that the tragedy could have been easily avoided with proper assessment and planning, stating that both the courts and HSE take regulatory failures extremely seriously.
“The custodial sentence imposed on Mr McCarthy should underline to everyone in the construction industry that the courts, and HSE, take a failure to follow the regulations extremely seriously. HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against individuals or companies that fall below the required standards.”
