A Fife firm has been convicted of breaching health and safety legislation following the death of an employee who was crushed by the wheels of a lorry.
Workshop assistant Ian Bratchie, 50, died in the accident on September 3, 2015, when he was run over by the HGV in the Lochgelly yard of Robert Purvis Plant Hire.
The company was found guilty of failing to make suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk of vehicles being driven away while they were under maintenance at its premises in Cartmore Industrial Estate between April 2, 2012 and September 4, 2015.
However, jurors at Dunfermline Sheriff Court delivered a not proven verdict to a second charge — that the firm had failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees.
Mr Bratchie, a grandfather from Lochgelly who helped the mechanics in the workshop, was under the lorry when its driver Mark Elder tried to move it.
He went to shift it and “felt a bump”.
When he saw Mr Bratchie in his mirror he realised immediately he was dead.
Colleagues and bosses of Mr Bratchie, including company founder Bob Purvis, gave evidence during the trial over several days.
Mr Bratchie’s partner Claire Mason, who was in court, said she did not know what to make of the verdict and declined to comment before she had spoken to her lawyer.
Sheriff Christopher Shead is due to pass sentence on Friday.
