A scrapyard owner from Newark, Nottinghamshire, has been fined £50,000 for breaches of health and safety laws which led to employee Simon Teece being killed in a car cutting machine.

Bill Briggs-Price, of Briggs Metal, admitted to Nottingham Crown Court charges of failing to ensure employees’ safety and not completing a suitable risk assessment.

He was fined £40,000 for the first charge and £10,000 for the second, plus £6,749 costs. The maximum penalty available is an unlimited fine.

The court heard that a number of the scrapyard’s workers had, for several months, been entering the shearing machine without isolating the power. Briggs-Price was aware his staff were taking neglecting safety procedures, but failed to take disciplinary action.