School trust fined after woman injured by branch

A school academy trust has been fined £20,000 after a woman was seriously injured by a falling tree branch.

Gillian Gardner, 68, suffered several broken ribs as gardener Nicolas Thépot used an unsafe method to fell a tree on West Road, Newcastle, in 2022.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust had made no checks on Thépot, who had no training or qualifications in arboriculture.

Thépot, 44, pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches and was handed a suspended jail sentence.

HSE said Thépot had been contracted by the trust to fell two trees in the grounds of St Cuthbert's Catholic High School on Gretna Road on 9 August 2022.

Thépot used a chainsaw to remove branches of a trunk and had a rope on the branches, which his young apprentice would pull inside the school boundary as they fell.

HSE said then the "rope snapped, causing both it and the falling branch to crash into Mrs Gardner and her dog".

Mrs Gardner was knocked into the path of incoming traffic in the road, HSE inspectors said.

An HSE investigation found that Thépot, trading as The Green Yem, had no training or qualifications in arboriculture or in the use of chainsaws and used an "unsafe method to fell the tree".

Meanwhile it was found that Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust had made no checks on Thépot's experience, competence or qualifications.

HSE said the trust "did not stop the work after the incident" and Thépot continued working on the tree the next day using the same method.

In a statement, Mrs Gardner said it "took about a year to totally recover" and she was unable to leave the house for several weeks.

"I still can't carry anything heavy," she said.

"I feel like it has all been downhill since my accident and I've lost confidence in what I can and can't do," Mrs Gardner.

Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust pleaded guilty to breaching its duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to make sure persons not in their employment were not exposed to health or safety risks.

It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,344 in costs at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on 17 April.

Thépot, of Netherwitton Way, Newcastle, pleaded guilty at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday and was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

HSE inspector Stephen Garner said it was "completely avoidable" with it being "particularly concerning" that "the work continued by the same method the very next day".

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