Henry Westons Cider makers are fined £1.4m after grandfather was crushed to death on his 65th birthday by a security barrier which pierced through his van’s windshield

• Tommy Manns was driving a van out of the firm’s site when incident happened 
• H Weston and Sons pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations 

A cider manufacturer has been fined £1.4million after a grandfather was crushed to death on his 65th birthday by a security barrier which pierced through his van’s windshield. 

Tommy Manns was driving the vehicle for H Weston and Sons Limited, the manufacturer of Henry Westons Cider, out of the firm’s site at Bounds Farm, March Marcle, Ledbury, when the end of a recently installed security barrier speared the van’s windshield on September 28, 2020. 

It fatally crushed the grandfather-of-three, who had been called by two of his grandchildren just hours earlier to wish him a happy birthday. 

Mr Manns, from Gloucestershire, who had two children, was a farm manager at H Weston and Sons Limited and had started working at the company in 2008. 

The company was fined after being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into the incident found it had failed to undertake and suitable and sufficient risk assessment over the barrier, which was installed a month earlier. 

Mr Manns, from Gloucestershire, who had two children, was a farm manager at H Weston and Sons Limited and had started working at the company in 2008 (Pictured with his wife Rose) 

The recently installed security barrier pierced through the van’s windshield

It was also found to have failed to have implemented a safe system of work to ensure the barrier could be secured safely when opened and closed. 

H Weston and Sons Limited pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations and was fined £1.4million and ordered to pay £26,756.50 in costs at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court. 

Mr Manns’s devastated wife, Rose, says the incident has impacted her ability to drive and that she has lost her confidence following her husband’s death. 

‘I am still in shock following the death of my husband’, she said. 

‘I’ve never been an emotional person, but since the accident I am nervous and reliving the accident all the time. In the beginning I couldn’t even drive because my husband was driving at the time of his accident and I couldn’t face driving again for a long time.

‘I’ve always been a people’s person and now I have no confidence. People stop and ask me how I feel and how I am. I don’t feel confident to talk to people about what happened and people don’t know what to say to me.

‘Tommy loved his grandchildren so much. He spoke to the two grandkids who were four and six on the day of his death. They rang to sing happy birthday to him in the morning. He never got the chance to open his birthday cards.

The company was fined after being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into the incident found it had failed to undertake and suitable and sufficient risk assessment over the barrier, which was installed a month earlier

Mr Manns had been called by two of his grandchildren just hours before the incident to wish him a happy 65th birthday 

Mr Manns’s devastated wife, Rose, says the incident has impacted her ability to drive and that she has lost her confidence following her husband’s death (Pictured – Tommy and Rose Manns) 

‘We had put a deposit down on a motorhome. My son had to ring the company a couple of days after Tommy died to cancel the order.

‘Tommy has left a great legacy. He was so loved, he was my rock, my soulmate.’

Oliver Hunter, Tommy’s stepson, added: ‘As a parent there are many memorable moments you want to keep hold of, however trying to explain to my four-year-old son and six-year-old daughter that their Grampy Tom had died on his birthday and that he is no longer with us, is one I wish I could forget.

‘Both of our children were outgoing, happy little people with a love of life, but since Tommy’s death their behaviours have changed, they are more weary of life, can be more angry and upset over various things. 

‘They live with a constant fear that their loved ones maybe taken away from them which consequently means they are both struggling daily with separation anxiety on different levels.

HSE inspector Sara Lumley: ‘This is a sad and devastating case that is made all the more tragic as the incident took place on Tommy’s birthday. It was also his day off. 

‘Rosemary and Oliver have made clear the impact that Tommy’s passing has had and our thoughts remain with them and their family.

‘Horizontal barriers can be dangerous – but deaths are extremely preventable. 

‘The guidance for those operating barriers like this at car parks is clear and it’s vital to make sure the barriers are adequately secured at all times whether open or shut.’

MailOnline has contacted Weston’s Cider for comment.  

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