Prosecutions

The tractor driver was competing in the Euro Challenge Cup in Great Eccleston when his tractor was crushed. A 12 tonne box of weights, attached to the trailer he was pulling, hit the back of his tractor on Sunday 26 August 2007.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the Carlisle-based firm which owned and maintained both the trailer and weight box, following an investigation into the death.

Preston Crown Court heard the 58-year-old had been pulling the specially designed trailer at approximately 60 miles an hour when the control mechanism failed. The weight box on the back on the trailer crashed through safety buffers and into the tractor as the driver tried to slow down.

It took fire and ambulance services an hour to free him from the wreckage before he could be airlifted to hospital, where he died from severe crush injuries.

The driver, who had been involved in the tractor pulling motorsport since its introduction in the Netherlands in 1979, had won dozens of national and European championship titles. He was married with three children.

The HSE investigation found engineers had attempted to repair a fault in the trailer's control mechanism on three separate occasions during the previous day. The mechanism should have caused the weight box to move up the trailer rails slowly until it reached the buffers.

Despite the recurrent fault, the trailer was still put back into use on Sunday at the showground.

The investigation also concluded the trailer would not have met the rules of the European Tractor Pulling Committee or the British Tractor Pulling Association. Tests showed that the emergency brakes, although fitted, could not stop the weight box quickly enough.

The trailer company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by putting lives at risk. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in prosecution costs.

The investigating inspector from the HSE said:

"The driver was an experienced tractor-pulling competitor but he lost his life because this company didn't do enough to look after his safety. It was given three warnings the previous day that the control mechanism wasn't working properly, but did not take the trailer out of use at the event.

"The company also failed to follow the guidelines set down by the governing body for tractor-pulling. The motorsport is a potentially high-risk activity and so it's vital the rules are followed to the letter.

"It's tragic the excellent health and safety record of tractor pulling events has been tarnished by the failings of one company. I hope lessons will be learnt from this so that both the public and drivers can continue to enjoy tractor pulling events safely in the future."