Excavator operator fined £2,500 for killing pedestrian

An excavator driver has pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety Act after an accident that left a pedestrian dead.

Colin Clifford, 50, from Enfield, had been operating an excavator in a fenced-off area outside a house in Westminster when the incident happened.

Clifford accidentally operated the wrong lever of the machine which allowed a number of stored buckets to fall to the pavement, striking an 81-year-old pedestrian, Joseph Johnston, who died soon afterwards.

HSE inspector Lisa Chappell said the incident was the “worst case of what can go wrong when operators cut corners”.

Clifford was fined £2,500 with costs of £1,500.