A MOTHER has criticised a £40,000 fine imposed on a demolition firm after her son was crushed to death in an accident.

Patricia Henderson, 48, said she felt "extremely let down" after Brown and Mason, of London, failed to apologise after the death of her son, James Hall, 21.

Mr Hall and his colleagues had been removing cable from the former Blyth Power Station, in Northumberland, on May 21, 2001, after it was targeted by thieves.

The site was being demolished as part of a £12m contract but workers were taking away the cables to prevent them being stolen.

Mr Hall, 21, a father-of-one, from Hendon, Sunderland, was crushed when a 400kg connection box fell on him after a supporting cable was cut by a fellow worker.

Assistant site manager Richard Brown had cut through 75mm thick cable using a hand saw, assuming that the heavy box would still be supported by structures within the pump room.

But David Rowlands, for the Health and Safety Executive, told the court that the supporting pump had already been removed a year or so earlier.

The court heard that the task of removing cables had not been discussed or properly planned at the daily meetings held with safety engineers. Brown and Mason, a private company founded 40 years ago, admitted two breaches of Health and Safety Act regulations.

Defence barrister John Evans said the firm felt "great sadness" that their unblemished safety record was tarnished.

Judge Guy Whitburn accepted that the connection box did appear to be supported by the structures and fined the firm £40,000, plus £3,750 costs.

Mrs Henderson said; "This amount of money is just a drop in the ocean to them. How can that justify the loss of a life. The company has never even said sorry."