A construction boss has avoided jail after an award-winning 18-year-old joiner was crushed to death by a stack of unsecured building materials during a house renovation. David Horrocks, director of Varcity Living, was given a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and his company was fined £50,000.
Chloe Bidwell died in December 2023 when a large stack of wooden boards, each weighing up to 30kg, fell on her while she was working alone at a property in Bangor. Investigators believe she may have been trying to retrieve a board from the vertically stacked pile when it toppled onto her, fatally crushing her neck.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Chloe had been working unsupervised with no lone working policy, inadequate supervision, and no safe storage procedures in place for the materials. The company's risk assessment was described by the judge as "wasn't worth the paper it was written on" as workers had not seen it.
Horrocks pleaded guilty to failing to discharge a health and safety duty as a director, while Varcity Living admitted failing to ensure the safety of employees and non-employees. District Judge Gwyn Jones stated there had been a "systemic failure" in risk assessments and that Chloe should not have been working alone.
Chloe, an apprentice joiner, was found dead after failing to return home and her unread messages prompted concern. An inquest in January 2024 heard the provisional cause of death was compression of the neck.
Chloe's mother, Clare Stephenson-Brown, described her daughter as "full of life, energy and determination" and said the fact she died alone caused her family "unbearable pain." She added that the family felt Chloe was "let down at work."
Chloe had been recognized for her carpentry skills, winning a gold prize in the Welsh building skills joinery awards in 2023. She had also encouraged other young women to consider careers in trades. An HSE inspector noted that Chloe's death was "so wholly avoidable."