Builder Handed Suspended Sentence after Roof Worker’s Fatal Fall

A SELF-EMPLOYED builder from Reading received a suspended prison sentence after a man tragically fell to his death while assisting with roof work.

Raffaele Vigliotti, 68, who was trading as Absolute Building Solutions, was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, after the fatal fall. An acquaintance of Vigliotti, Andrew Layley, 69, was helping with roof work as part of an extension to a domestic property in Reading when the incident occured.

It was during this work on 8 April 2023 that Andrew fell and sustained serious head injuries. He died in hospital several weeks later.

Andrew Layley, also from Reading, was married with three grown up children and had a love of cats. His wife of nearly 40 years and children said they massively feel the loss of their “caring” husband and dad and his loss has left a huge hole in their lives.

Safety Failings

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Vigliotti failed to put in place suitable measures to protect both Andrew Layley and another worker while they were working at height. The measures that were used were inadequate to either prevent or control a fall, or mitigate the consequence of a fall.

HSE guidance requires where it is not possible to avoid working at height, action must be taken to control the risk of falling and also minimise the consequence of a fall by either minimising the distance of a fall, or having measures in place, such as soft landing systems, to mitigate the fall. Guidance on working at height is available here: Introduction to working at height safely – HSE.

Suspended Sentence

Raffaele Vigliotti of The Hedges, Bath Road, Padworth, Reading, Berkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.  At Reading Crown Court on 13 October 2025 he was given an eight-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within the next 18 months and to pay a victim surcharge.

HSE Inspector Nicola Pinckney commented: “Every year, a significant proportion of incidents, many of them serious and sometimes fatal, occur as a result of unsuitable or absent measures to protect workers from falls from height.

“This was a wholly avoidable incident, and if consideration had been given to the well-known risks of working at height, and suitable, readily available controls been put in place, this incident could have been avoided.

“Due to Vigliotti’s failures, a family has been left without a much loved husband and dad.

“The penalty imposed on Mr Vigliotti will hopefully serve to highlight to others the importance of taking this risk seriously and ensuring they protect their workers from this risk.”

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