Angus firm fined £32,000 after promising footballer’s legs are crushed in “regretful” accident

A promising footballer was left unable to play the game after a wall collapsed on his legs and pinned him to the ground.

Connor Watson, 17, faces arthritis in his legs by the age of 30 after being freed from beneath a block of concrete in an Angus burn in September 2013, with Carnoustie firm DJ Laing (Contracts) Ltd fined £32,000 for its part in the accident.

The company was working on an Angus Council culvert project at Letham Grange, near Arbroath, when the teenager was injured.

The victim’s father was the contracts manager for the site and Forfar Sheriff Court heard he had expressed safety doubts before the accident happened.

The company, which employs more than 100 staff and 50 contractors, admitted health and safety breaches and said it was “deeply regretful” over the incident.

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