Family slam Darlington's Cleveland Bridge after worker's death

The court case against Darlington-based Cleveland Bridge, which folded last year after calling in administrators, took place after a worker died at work in October 2016.

Keith Poppleton suffered fatal injuries after falling from an eight metre travelling crane.

Mr Poppleton, then of Tunstall Road, Stockton fell through an inspection hatch and landed on a pile of metal girders at the company’s site on Yarm Road, Darlington, an inquest in 2018 heard.

The 54-year-old sub-contractor later died in hospital.

Cleveland Bridge was found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and fined £1.5m at Teesside Crown Court on Monday.

But no representative from the former manufacturer was present at any of the court hearings. 

Now, his heartbroken family have criticised the "wicked and disgraceful" manufacturer who walked away with no accountability.

And the family added they have not had justice for his death. 

Read more: Cleveland Bridge fined £1.5m after worker's death 

Keith Poppleton died just four days before the birth of his first grandchild. Picture: Handout

In a victim impact statement from read out in court wife Catherine Poppleton said the couple had been together for 35 years, married for 30.

"The day Keith died was the day a large part of me died with him," she said. "He was my world, he was the reason my life was interesting, exciting, safe, and I felt loved. 

"Keith was interesting, loving, intelligent, passionate about his interests, exciting, and he would keep the element of surprise alive. He was my best friend, husband, and soul mate."

Teesside Crown Court heard Mr Poppleton was an electrician, qualified electrical engineer, and a college lecturer at Stockton Riverside College and Darlington College.

He also taught at Teesside-based TTE technical, during which time he travelled to the Middle East for a teaching post at their branch in Dubai.

"He was immensely proud of his work and thrived to achieve the absolute best he could," Mrs Poppleton added.

The family also had to deal with the heartbreaking news that Mr Poppleton never got the chance to meet his newborn granddaughter. 

Mrs Poppleton added: "Our middle child, Katie, and her partner had become pregnant with our first grandchild.

"Katie had told her dad of her news and he was delighted. He was overjoyed and so excited at the thought of becoming a granddad. Katie gave him a copy of her first baby scan, and he kept it on the mantlepiece.

"But he died four days before our grandchild was born. It devastates me and I don’t think I will ever come to terms with him being robbed of meeting her."

The day he got the job at Cleveland Bridge he wrote: 'Cleveland Bridge has saved my life and I hope to end my working days there'.

"This absolutely broke my heart.

"It is a cruel irony that never a truer word was written. His words, so full of hope and enthusiasm, haunt me.

"We, his family, had always known Keith to have had the highest regard and respect for health and safety, both in and out of the workplace.

"He taught this to our daughters and laboured to instil it into his students – the future generation of workers."

Read more: Every step of the demise of Darlington's Cleveland Bridge

Mrs Poppleton recounted the impact the devasatating loss of her husband has had on her life since his death in 2018. 

She added: "As a result of Keith’s death, not only did I lose my husband, my life partner, and my soulmate, I lost all the financial security we had. As a result of this I had to sell the house that was built under our pension fund at a loss of £20,000."

The widow was also scathing in her assessment of Cleveland Bridge in the victim impact statement but also a further statement delivered after the sentencing. 

Talking of the former manufacturer's conduct after the death, she said: "Cleveland Bridge used the short time we were separated from the whole of our 30-year marriage as a defence for not accepting responsibility for Keith’s death.

"I feel that Cleveland Bridge humiliated me by seeking to diminish our marriage and our lifetime together. The conduct of Cleveland Bridge from the point of Keith’s death and throughout the settlement negotiations has been wholly distressing and has exacerbated our suffering.

"They, continuing to perversely deny liability for Keith’s death, is devastating. They’ve dragged this process out which has caused me so much stress and anxiety. The strain on my mental health has been so much that I have had to seek medical support and counselling."

After the sentencing on Monday, wife Catherine Poppleton issued a statement on behalf of the family. 

In it, they tragically revealed that despite the conviction they have not had justice for Mr Poppleton's death and noted the heartbreaking pain the family has suffered for years. 

The family also criticised Cleveland Bridge for denying liability for the 54-year-old's death and condemned the suggestion that Mr Poppleton may have been at fault. 

Read the statement below in full: 

"Though it has taken over 5 years, we are pleased to finally have a judgement and sentence.

"Although Cleveland Bridge has been found guilty of failing Health and Safety regulations, we as Keith’s family do not feel that we have had justice for Keith - our three daughters, our grandchildren whom he never met, the eldest of which was born three days after Keith was killed, and me, Keith’s wife of 30 years.

"The company is no longer trading and all the directors at the time, who have long since abandoned ship, have literally walked away with no accountability for Keith’s death.

"To add further insult, at the time of Keith’s death the law in England valued a person’s life at £12,980. Though it goes without saying that no amount of money will ever replace Keith or compensate for what was taken from him, it is nonetheless galling and painful to have to accept that this figure is what English law says that Keith’s life was worth. In Scotland there is no such callous or arbitrary statutory limit.

"I would further like to comment that the conduct of Cleveland Bridge in the civil proceedings was wicked and disgraceful. Despite the evidence to the contrary, they continued to deny liability for Keith’s death, even at one point suggesting Keith himself may have been at fault. This prolonged our ordeal and caused me and my daughters further unnecessary pain.

"I would hope that one day all company CEOs and directors learn to value their workers and their safety, and pain such as we have suffered may be avoided by others in the future."

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