Newlyn fishing firm fined £100k after apprentice's death

Summarised from CornwallLive's report · Updated 15 Oct, 19:39 · Archive

A Cornish fishing business has been fined over £100,000 following the death of a 20-year-old apprentice engineer in 2019.

Conor Moseley, 20, from Penzance, died after inhaling toxic spray from a fire-extinguishing system being installed in the engine room of the Resurgam, a scallop dredger owned by Stevenson & Sons, one of the UK's largest privately owned fishing fleets. The incident occurred on 15 November 2019 in Newlyn harbour. The system was accidentally activated in a confined and cramped engine room where several workers and contractors were present, with only a single narrow exit up a ladder. The FirePro system released a dense white cloud of aerosol particles. Three other workers escaped, but Conor collapsed near the exit door and could not be revived.

At sentencing at Truro Crown Court on 15 October, Stevenson & Sons was fined over £100,000. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch had found that whilst the fire-suppressing system was designed to prevent fires, it generated spray hazardous to health when inhaled in significant quantities. Conor's mother Tracy read a statement describing how the family had been 'stuck in a bubble' for the past seven years while the world moved on without her son.

Read the report

• Newlyn fishing firm fined £100k after death of young apprenticeHis mother read a heartbreaking statementCornwallLive · 15 Oct, 17:31

In this story: Conor Moseley · Stevenson & Sons · Newlyn · Penzance · Truro Crown Court

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