Supermarket Iceland guilty over workman's death

A SUPERMARKET has been found guilty of allowing unsafe working conditions which resulted in a worker's death.

Frozen food giant Iceland was as convicted on one count of failing to protect employees from harm and one of failing to protect non-employees in relation to the death of Tony Hopkins in 2013.

Mr Hopkins (58), of Silsden in West Yorkshire, fell to his death in 2013 while working at the Iceland branch on Sycamore Road, Eastwood.

Jurors took five hours and 15 minutes to unanimously find the firm guilty on both counts after a two-week trial.

Prosecutor Mr Nicholas de la Poer identified 11 steps the company might reasonably have taken to make the store safe for staff, all of which it failed to put in place.

Mr Hopkins was maintaining air conditioning units in the shop’s roof space on October 28, 2013, when he fell through a false ceiling.

The D&E Filtration employee landed on the back of his head, dying at Rotherham Hospital around one hour later.

The court did not immediately set a date for sentencing.

Related topics: