Last updated at 08:41, Wednesday, 14 March 2012

A GRIEVING widow has blasted the £15,000 fine handed to a company which admitted failing to protect her husband’s safety at work.

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Jenna Robinson said she has endured “two years of hell” following the death of her husband Tony, 37, in 2010.

Mr Robinson died after a piece of metal detached from a strimmer and hit him on the back of the neck while he was working as a groundsman at Ramsden Dock in Barrow.

Mr Robinson, of Lime Tree Road, Ulverston, worked for Andrew Brooks Tree Services, which was sub-contracting for Three Shires Ltd at the time.

In February, Three Shires Ltd, based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, admitted at Furness Magistrates’ Court to failing to ensure Mr Robinson’s safety while he carried out work for them.

At yesterday’s sentencing at Barrow Crown Court, Judge Paul Batty QC ordered the company to pay a £15,000 fine and £10,000 costs.

Speaking to the Evening Mail following the sentencing, Mrs Robinson said: “It should never have happened. No matter how big or small the fine was, it will not bring Tony back.

“But the actual fine given out today; I do feel it was very low.

“This uphill battle has been horrendous. It has been awful for me and my children. It has been two years of hell.

“The family has been torn apart but we’ve had each other. I’ve had a lot of support from my mum and dad and my very close friends, who I’d like to thank so much. I wouldn’t have got through this without them.”

Mrs Robinson said she was disgusted by Three Shires Ltd following her husband’s death.

She said: “That company has ruined my life and my children’s lives.

“This will never be the end for me because there are so many unanswered questions.

“To say that they have been supportive and everything else that they say they have been, they disgust me.

“They have not once sent a card, any sympathy or any condolences apart from today when my dad was approached in the men’s toilets to pass on their condolences.

“If they were a family company like they say they are, they would have had a bit more remorse towards me. I would have appreciated a card or a visit just to pass on their condolences. I find it disgusting.

“I’ve been unhappy in general, from the start of the case to the finish.”

In a statement, Three Shires Ltd said: “The directors of Three Shires Ltd express their deepest sympathy to Mr Robinson’s family.

“The prosecution rightly accepted that there was no causal connection between the company’s limited breaches and the tragic loss of life and that the company was and is run by well-motivated individuals, who aim to secure safe outcomes on all of their activities.”

First published at 13:10, Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk