Roof boss 'did not ignore risks'

Darren Hoofe died in hospital a day after he fell onto the factory floor

A roofing company boss charged with the manslaughter of an employee who fell 20ft (6m) to his death has told a court he did not ignore the risks of the job.

Darren Hoofe, 20, died after carrying out repairs at the Bellbrook Industrial Estate, Uckfield, East Sussex, Hove Crown Court heard.

Colin Cooper, 48, owner of IC Roofing Ltd, denies charges of manslaughter against both himself and the company.

He told the jury he felt he had taken the necessary safety precautions.

Mr Hoofe was working with two senior employees on 29 November 2005, the day of the incident, the court has heard.

He was not wearing a harness and there was no safety net when he fell through a skylight on to a concrete floor, the jury was told.

I didn't ignore the risks because if I'd ignored the risks I'd have sent my guys up there with nothing Colin Cooper

He died in hospital a day later from severe head and brain injuries.

Mr Cooper said he believed the accident might not have happened but for the interference of men working in the building below.

The court heard Trevor Keep, whose company was using the industrial unit, had asked the men to move to a different section of the roof as they were disrupting the work of his team.

Mr Cooper said the men would usually work "from front to back", so would always be positioned on the most recently replaced or repaired section of roof.

"The mistake came when they were asked to change their working practice," he said.

"If they hadn't changed their work practices then perhaps Darren would be here today."

Mr Cooper, of London Road, Hailsham, has pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of an employee under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Limited training

He accepted in court his workers should have had five crawling boards on the roof rather than two.

But he added: "I didn't ignore the risks because if I'd ignored the risks I'd have sent my guys up there with nothing."

Mr Hoofe, from Newhaven, received only limited training for the work, but Mr Cooper told the court he was confident two senior colleagues would ensure he was protected.

"From the first day he'd go on a job he'd be instructed what to do," he said.

He told the jury he had inspected the building some weeks earlier and decided using safety nets would be impractical because of the nature of the site.

He had thought the roof's asbestos sheets "weren't of a weak nature".

The trial continues.