Yard manager jailed for over seven years for shredder death
Yard manager Brian Timmins, 54, has been jailed for seven-and-half years and Timmins Waste Services fined £400,000 after an employee was killed in an industrial shredder.
Timmins was previously convicted of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of labourer David Willis at Timmins Waste Services in Wolverhampton.
Timmins was operating a digger on Saturday 15 September 2018, when he lifted Mr Willis, 29, onto the top of an industrial shredder following a blockage which had jammed the machine. Willis was then seen on CCTV working on and within the shredder, and footage from another camera showed the machine still operating while he was sitting within it.
Willis’ mother reported him missing on the night after he failed to return home from work. Timmins reported the incident to police on Monday 17 September after Willis’ coat was found at work. West Midlands Police then reviewed CCTV from the previous Saturday and it emerged Willis had fallen into the shredder.
