Roofing Bosses Convicted after Roofer Dies in Site Fall

A ROOFING company owner has been convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence, after a worker fell to his death on a building site in Hove.

Steven Wenham, 48, of Charlotte Street in Brighton denied the charge of manslaughter but was convicted by a jury of the offence. As well as several other health and safety offences.

Another roofing company owner, John Nicholas Spiller, 52, of Fishersgate Close in Portslade, was also convicted of several charges at Lewes Crown Court on 7 April 2022 following a long, complex investigation led by Sussex Police, with support from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

A separate prosecution has also been brought against two companies led by the pair as directors – Total Contractor’s Ltd and Southern Asphalt Ltd.

It follows a fatal incident at a building site in Brunswick Street West, Hove, on Friday, July 27, 2018, in which a roofer sub-contracted by Southern Asphalt fell two storeys from a ladder to his death.

Multiple Safety Failings

An inspection from the HSE found multiple safety failings including no scaffolding or barriers to protect those working at a height.

The victim – 60-year-old Graham Tester – had been using a ladder, secured with only two nails hammered into a timber frame on either side of it.

Roofing Bosses Convicted

Wenham was charged with, and found guilty of, manslaughter by gross negligence. Both he and his company Total Contractor’s Ltd were also found guilty of two offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act regarding failure to properly safeguard against serious injury or death from a fall from height.

Spiller was found not guilty of manslaughter, but convicted of an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act regarding a failure to properly safeguard against serious injury of death from a fall from height.

His roofing company, Southern Asphalt Ltd, had already pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Both men have been released on bail awaiting sentence on 7 June 2022.

Duty of Care

Detective Inspector James Meanwell said: “Employers owe a duty of care to their employees.

“Steven Wenham and John Spiller failed in that duty – the consequences of which were Graham’s tragic death and an irreparable loss to his children and grandchildren.

“It is my hope that Sussex Police’s investigation and the subsequent trial were able to answer his family’s questions and offer them some measure of comfort that justice has been done.”

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