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A self-employed telehandler operator from Heswall has received a suspended prison sentence because they reversed over and killed a colleague at a construction site in Ellesmere Port.
46-year-old Michael Nixon was operating a telehandler at a large construction site in Ince on 11 June 2023. On this day, he reversed the vehicle over 49-year-old James Connolly, who was a lift supervisor at the site.
As reported by Birkenhead News, Mr Connolly was walking back to his work area from the welfare compound, and suffered fatal injuries in the collision.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation concluded Nixon, who was a qualified and very experienced telehandler operator, still reversed the vehicle without the assistance of a banksman. The site's contractor had put measures in place to minimise the need to reverse on site through the creation of a readily available turning circle.
If that wasn't enough, investigators found Nixon was using his phone while using the telehandler, an obvious health and safety rule break.
In a victim personal statement, Mr Connolly's mother Pauline said: "I have constant flashbacks to that day and every time we get a phone call my heart drops, and I fear the worst news. Every time I see someone in a high viz jacket and a hard hat, I think it is Jamie. I am changed forever since my son's death. I miss and think about him every day. My first-born child. My only son."
Mr Connolly's daughter Amelia said: "I struggle with a great deal of anger. I am angry that my dad went to work and never came home. Alongside the sadness there is also a constant sense of injustice. It is difficult to accept that someone could leave home for work and never return to their family."
Nixon pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. At Warrington Magistrates' Court on 11 August 2026, he was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months and fined £800. He was also ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
HSE Principal Inspector Laura Royales said: "Workplace transport incidents remain one of the biggest causes of deaths in the workplace. It is vital that drivers follow the site rules and do not cut corners and put lives at risk. Our thoughts remain with the family of James Connolly."
