A CONVICTED sex offender and former scaffolder could be jailed indefinitely after being found guilty of sneaking into a pensioner’s home and indecently assaulting her.
Wayne Stephenson, 24, was found guilty of carrying out the sickening attack on the woman in her 60s after a three-day trial at Teesside Crown Court.
The jury of four men and eight women took just three hours to reach their unanimous verdict.
The Hartlepool victim told the trial how she awoke to feel a pressure on her chest and discovered Stephenson had removed her blankets and part of her clothing.
She said she thought she was having a nightmare at first before realising it was real.
Stephenson had crept inside the widow’s home and began to indecently assault her.
But after a struggle, she managed to get free and talk to Stephenson.
She said he would get “no pleasure” from her.
Stephenson had spent the night drinking after an argument at home with his mum and he stormed off.
He told police he was in bed from around 2.30am and was joined later by his girlfriend.
But it was proved during the trial that he had been in the town centre until around 4am and that his girlfriend had met him in the street shortly after the attack took place.
On Tuesday, the jury was told that Stephenson was convicted of indecently assaulting a 45-year-old woman in April 2007.
On that occasion, he approached the stranger in a street, pinned her against a wall, and put his hands up her skirt before she screamed and ran away.
The former scaffolder is now facing an indefinite jail sentence and will be assessed over what danger he poses to the public.
Judge Peter Fox said: “As you would expect, I am in particular concerned over the previous conviction.
“I have in mind an indefinite sentence of imprisonment for protection of the public, but I’m not going to pre-judge this matter.”
Stephenson, of Grange Road, Hartlepool, was convicted of trespass with intent to commit sexual assault and sexual assault, both on November 6.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on April 1.
Two North East companies have today been fined after a member of the public was seriously injured when scaffolding collapsed during high winds.flickr.com
A 68-year-old woman was out shopping with relatives when the scaffolding in Shields Road, Byker, Newcastle collapsed on 14 March 2009.
She suffered double fractures to her right hip joint and right femur, puncture wounds to her right ankle and severe bruising and was in hospital for 12 days following the incident. Almost two years on she is still unable to carry shopping bags and is limited in what housework she can do.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that Skyline Scaffolding Ltd had not erected the scaffolding properly by failing to ensure it was adequately secured to the building. The scaffold had been reduced in height to a single working platform with the wooden hoardings and sheeting still attached. In reducing the scaffold, the scaffolding company removed the arrangement that retained the scaffold to the building.
HSE also found that Ashbrook Construction Services Ltd had failed to ensure that the scaffolding was properly inspected both before work began and at regular intervals as it progressed.
Skyline Scaffolding, of Drum Industrial Estate, Birtley was found guilty, in absence, to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 between 14 January and 14 March 2009 and a second offence of breaching Regulation 8(b) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 between 11 and 14 March 2009 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,182.30 at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court today (16 March 2011).
Ashbrook Construction Services Ltd, of Leeholme Industrial Estate, Cowpen Lane, Billingham pleaded guilty to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 between 14 January and 14 March 2009 and was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2091.15.
After the case, HSE Principal Inspector Rob Hirst said:
“This incident could, and should, have been prevented. The lady was seriously injured and was lucky not to be killed as a result of this incident. And things could have been even worse had the scaffolding collapsed when workers were using it.
“Skyline Scaffolding Ltd failed to erect the scaffolding properly by not securing it adequately and Ashbrook Construction Services Ltd failed to ensure the scaffolding was inspected before work began and then regularly once it was in progress.
“Each company had varying responsibilities, but were complicit in failing to ensure the scaffold remained stable. Both parties should have been aware that the addition of wooden hoardings and impervious sheeting increased the loading on the structure.
“I would urge all those involved in the supply and use of temporary work platforms such as scaffolding, to ensure that they are erected by competent persons and are subject to inspection before work starts and then at least every seven days or following alteration or effects of adverse weather.”
Via: HSE (Press Release)
Two building contractors have been fined after two men were injured when scaffolding collapsed at a building site in East Sussex.Roofers, Billy Smith and Ashley Burton, fell more than three metres to the ground below when a scaffold gave way because other workmen began digging a trench near the base of the framework.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted both partners from Select Estates Ltd, of Hurst Green, for breaching the health and safety laws which led to the incident.
Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard a number of roofers at the new housing development in London Road, Hurst Green, were standing on scaffolding between two semi-detached houses. The scaffolding was loaded with tiles.
Down below, in order to install drain and sewer systems, two ground workers began digging a trench next to the foot standings of the scaffold. The standings of the scaffold were undermined by the removal of dirt to create the trench, which slipped into the trench.
As a result of the incident, Mr Smith from Kemsing, Kent, injured his lower back while Mr Burton, from Sevenoaks, Kent, received cuts to his head and tore a muscle in his shoulder. He was off work for two months.
One of the injured men, Ashley Burton, said the incident had affected him deeply and admitted to still being nervous about climbing scaffolding to do his work.
The court was told the incident was caused by a number of parties carrying out their allotted tasks with little regard for others in terms of co-operation and co-ordination.
The scaffold was overloaded with people and building materials and there was no suitable site supervision nor management of the tasks to be undertaken.
HSE’s Inspector Russell Smith said:
“Falls from height are the biggest causes of workplace deaths and it’s crucial that employers make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out to protect staff from these risks.”
“In this case, it is extremely fortunate that nobody was killed, however, it could have been so much worse. If there was adequate management of the construction site, this incident could easily have been prevented.”
John Marton, Principal Contractor of Select Estates Ltd of Hurst Green pleaded guilty to regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at court today (15 March). He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,832.
Martin Taylor, Principal Contractor of the same company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at court today. He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,832.
Via: HSE (Press Release)
Hundreds of engineering workers are facing an uncertain future after a major contract between two firms in East Yorkshire was terminated.
People working for Redhall Engineering Solutions (RES) had turned up for work as usual on Tuesday expecting to work at Saltend Chemicals plant near Hull.
But Vivergo Fuels which runs the plant has cancelled the contract with RES saying the project is behind schedule.
RES was unavailable, but the GMB union said the situation was “uncertain”.
Blockaded entrance
The GMB union said hundreds of men did not know whether they had a job or not.
Vivergo issued a statement saying they had cancelled the mechanical and piping works contract because the works “should have been completed by February 2011”.
The statement went on to say those works were “only 69% complete” and the construction site at Saltend had been closed for a period of assessment.
Keith Gibson, from GMB, said people working for RES had been told to attend work as usual, but then had not been transported to the Saltend site as usual.
He said: “The company have contacted all their employees to advise them to attend for work this morning.
“When they’ve got to the car park [to await transport] there has been no buses to take the workforce on.
Called off
“As far as we’re aware, the Redhalls contract has ended at the Vivergo Fuels project.
“This leaves about 400 men unaware of whether they are going to be in work tomorrow, next week or the week after.”
On 3 March contractors employed by Redhall Group blockaded the entrance to the Vivergo Fuels site at Saltend after 15 redundancies were announced.
They disputed Redhall’s claim the lay-offs were carried out in line with an industry-wide agreement.
However, a planned second day of action was called off after unions and management reached agreement.
Worldwide industrial services and engineered products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today new awards from India’s Tata Group that further extend Harsco’s ongoing industrial scaffolding support of facility maintenance at Tata Steel for an additional five years, and add new scaffolding services with Tata Power and Tata Mines. The awards represent combined revenues in excess of $8 million over their terms.
Harsco’s growing support of the Tata Group underscore the Company’s strategic goals for market expansion within India’s industrial sector. Harsco serves Tata Steel at its flagship steelmaking operations in Jamshedpur, where the Company provides round-the-clock scaffolding and powered access services in support of the facility’s plant maintenance and shutdown requirements, a role that the Company began in 2008 and continues to strengthen. In its new roles for Tata Power and Tata Mines, Harsco will undertake similar on-site scaffolding services in support of facility maintenance.
Tata Steel recently honored Harsco with a Best Vendor performance award for the year 2010, recognizing the Company for outstanding safety performance and having achieved “the highest quality of scaffolding standards.”
Harsco Corporation is one of the world’s leading diversified industrial services and engineered products companies, serving industries that are fundamental to global infrastructure development and economic growth including metals, construction, railways and energy. Harsco’s common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com.
Via: (Press Release)
A PARTNER at a Kingswood-based scaffolding firm has pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence which is alleged to have led to the death of one of the company’s employees.Russell Flook, of Flooks Scaffolding, admitted the health and safety offence at Bristol Crown Court.
The 45-year-old, of Rogers Walk, Bridgeyate, admitted that there was a failure to provide a safe system of work for the firm’s employees while they were working on temporary roofs on October 4, 2006.
The charge included failures to adequately assess the risk of the work and provide adequate training, instruction, supervision and monitoring.
It also included a failure to provide adequate equipment for the work.
The Crown Prosecution Service alleged the failures led to the death of Shaun Stevens, a 41-year-old, married father-of-three, who died 12 days after falling 15ft from a scaffolding structure and hitting his head at the company’s yard in Station Road.
Marcus Tregilgas-Davey, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty on the basis that there was a lack of a written risk assessment, not that “an unsafe method for dismantling the structure was employed”.
He said his client accepted that the safety harnesses being used were inadequate after they had been tested.
Mr Tregilgas-Davey said there was “no causal connection between the breaches and the death”.
He said: “There is a small amount of light between us and where the Crown puts the case.”
The court was told Flook was likely to receive a financial punishment.
Judge Neil Ford asked for further financial information about the firm’s four other partners ahead of sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on April 27.
Via: www.thisisbristol.co.uk
(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — A worker fell to his death at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday in what was believed to be the facility’s first non-flight emergency in decades.
United Space Alliance engineer James D. Vanoverff fell from scaffolding — some of which sits 200 feet above the ground’s surface — while working on the space shuttle Endeavor around 7:40 a.m. Monday. Medics rushed to launch pad 39A, where the shuttle is being readied for its April 19 launch, but were unable to revive the man.
All work at the site has been suspended for the day as NASA conducts an investigation of the incident.
Via: ABC Radio
A busy road in Clerkenwell was closed for several hours and a shop suffered damage after a lorry crashed into scaffolding on Friday morning.St John Street, Courtesy of Flickr.com
St John Street was cordoned off between the junctions of Rosebery Avenue and Spencer Street around 7.50 after the vehicle dislodged scaffolding above designer clothes store Andrew Majtenyi.
Five police cars and an ambulance arrived ten minutes later although no-one was injured as a result of the incident.
Police at the scene said that the positioning of the scaffolding near the edge of the pavement and the adverse camber of the road had contributed to the collision.
Workers arrived at 9am to repair the scaffolding and work was completed to fix damage sustained to the front window of the shop, which remained open for business, in the afternoon. The road was open as usual from around 2pm.
Darius Cruchel, building foreman for AC Beck and Sons, a construction firm working opposite the incident, said: “ To be honest it happened so quick. I just take out some stuff out of my van to start work and all of a sudden there is ten people [on the street], not only police. There was many people on the road taking pictures”.
“To be honest with you I don’t know the law but in my opinion they should have who did the scaffolding – we’ve got a big logo on the front of the scaffolding plus we’ve got a safety sign so people know what company is doing the work. Every company should do it.”
Via: http://islingtonnow.co.uk
A court heard that Tilehurst man, Paul Shurvill, ran amok at a bowling club after a three-day alcohol spreeA TILEHURST man ran amok at a Calcot bowling club, hurling a basketball down the lane and ripping cladding from the walls, Newbury magistrates heard recently. Twenty-five-year-old Paul Shurvill, of Wendover Way, had been on a three-day alcohol spree, the court was told.
Claire French, prosecuting, said: “The duty manager saw the defendant shouting and swearing with a group of males. He then began kicking a basketball down the bowling aisle and then ripped casing from the wall in the reception area.
“Police were called and Mr Shurvill told officers he had been drinking since the previous Friday.”
Mr Shurvill, a scaffolder who has previous convictions for unrelated matters and has been cautioned twice for causing criminal damage, admitted damaging the wall at Reading Megabowl in Calcot on February 2 this year.
Martin Hennessy, defending, said his client had “essentially given up drinking for a number of years” before the incident but had been celebrating with friends. He added: “He is very remorseful.”
Presiding magistrate David Ball warned Mr Shurvill: “This is going to have been an expensive night out.”
Mr Shurvill was fined £75 and ordered to pay £50 compensation and £85 costs plus £15.
Via: www.newburytoday.co.uk
Harsco Corp.’s metals division has received two multi-year contract renewals from Mexican steelmaker Ternium Mexico.
Ternium Mexico is a unit of Ternium S.A.
The contract renewals are estimated to have projected revenue worth more than $225 million, the industrial services company said Friday.
The pacts span close to 10 years each and include new and expanded commercial terms.
In January Harsco said it received two new orders worth $9 million to provide insulation services and scaffolding for a new refinery under construction in the Netherlands.
The company’s stock shed 25 cents to $32.87 in afternoon trading.
Via: Business Week
Roofers, Billy Smith and Ashley Burton, fell more than three metres to the ground below when a scaffold gave way because other workmen began digging a trench near the base of the framework.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted both partners from Select Estates Ltd, of Hurst Green, for breaching the health and safety laws which led to the incident.
Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard a number of roofers at the new housing development in London Road, Hurst Green, were standing on scaffolding between two semi-detached houses. The scaffolding was loaded with tiles.
Down below, in order to install drain and sewer systems, two ground workers began digging a trench next to the foot standings of the scaffold. The standings of the scaffold were undermined by the removal of dirt to create the trench, which slipped into the trench.
As a result of the incident, Mr Smith from Kemsing, Kent, injured his lower back while Mr Burton, from Sevenoaks, Kent, received cuts to his head and tore a muscle in his shoulder. He was off work for two months.
One of the injured men, Ashley Burton, said the incident had affected him deeply and admitted to still being nervous about climbing scaffolding to do his work.
The court was told the incident was caused by a number of parties carrying out their allotted tasks with little regard for others in terms of co-operation and co-ordination.
The scaffold was overloaded with people and building materials and there was no suitable site supervision nor management of the tasks to be undertaken.
HSE’s Inspector Russell Smith said:
“Falls from height are the biggest causes of workplace deaths and it’s crucial that employers make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out to protect staff from these risks.”
“In this case, it is extremely fortunate that nobody was killed, however, it could have been so much worse. If there was adequate management of the construction site, this incident could easily have been prevented.”
John Marton, Principal Contractor of Select Estates Ltd of Hurst Green pleaded guilty to regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at court today (15 March). He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,832.
Martin Taylor, Principal Contractor of the same company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at court today. He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,832.
Via: HSE (Press Release) 
People working for Redhall Engineering Solutions (RES) had turned up for work as usual on Tuesday expecting to work at Saltend Chemicals plant near Hull.
But Vivergo Fuels which runs the plant has cancelled the contract with RES saying the project is behind schedule.
RES was unavailable, but the GMB union said the situation was “uncertain”.
Worldwide industrial services and engineered products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today new awards from India’s Tata Group that further extend Harsco’s ongoing industrial scaffolding support of facility maintenance at Tata Steel for an additional five years, and add new scaffolding services with Tata Power and Tata Mines. The awards represent combined revenues in excess of $8 million over their terms.
Harsco’s growing support of the Tata Group underscore the Company’s strategic goals for market expansion within India’s industrial sector. Harsco serves Tata Steel at its flagship steelmaking operations in Jamshedpur, where the Company provides round-the-clock scaffolding and powered access services in support of the facility’s plant maintenance and shutdown requirements, a role that the Company began in 2008 and continues to strengthen. In its new roles for Tata Power and Tata Mines, Harsco will undertake similar on-site scaffolding services in support of facility maintenance.
Tata Steel recently honored Harsco with a Best Vendor performance award for the year 2010, recognizing the Company for outstanding safety performance and having achieved “the highest quality of scaffolding standards.”
Harsco Corporation is one of the world’s leading diversified industrial services and engineered products companies, serving industries that are fundamental to global infrastructure development and economic growth including metals, construction, railways and energy. Harsco’s common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com.
Via: (Press Release) 
Russell Flook, of Flooks Scaffolding, admitted the health and safety offence at Bristol Crown Court.
The 45-year-old, of Rogers Walk, Bridgeyate, admitted that there was a failure to provide a safe system of work for the firm’s employees while they were working on temporary roofs on October 4, 2006.
The charge included failures to adequately assess the risk of the work and provide adequate training, instruction, supervision and monitoring.
It also included a failure to provide adequate equipment for the work.
The Crown Prosecution Service alleged the failures led to the death of Shaun Stevens, a 41-year-old, married father-of-three, who died 12 days after falling 15ft from a scaffolding structure and hitting his head at the company’s yard in Station Road.
Marcus Tregilgas-Davey, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty on the basis that there was a lack of a written risk assessment, not that “an unsafe method for dismantling the structure was employed”.
He said his client accepted that the safety harnesses being used were inadequate after they had been tested.
Mr Tregilgas-Davey said there was “no causal connection between the breaches and the death”.
He said: “There is a small amount of light between us and where the Crown puts the case.”
The court was told Flook was likely to receive a financial punishment.
Judge Neil Ford asked for further financial information about the firm’s four other partners ahead of sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on April 27.
Via: www.thisisbristol.co.uk 
