'My life is destroyed' — Cork firm is fined €80k after excavator reversed over employee's leg

The victim lost his leg from the knee down in an accident that the judge said was "eminently avoidable"

The judge said the accident had a catastrophic effect on the life of the injured man. File photo

An excavator reversing at a site clearance in Mallow landed on the left leg of a workman causing the loss of his limb from the knee and yesterday his employer was fined €80,000.

A guilty plea was entered on behalf of Tom Lynes Plant Hire Ltd of Cecilstown, Mallow, County Cork, on charges that the company failed to ensure the safety of employees by failing to have an exclusion zone in place to separate pedestrians from operational vehicles as a consequence of which Nicholas Geaney suffered injury.