A freight company based in Leeds has been fined £250,000 following the prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive, after a man was crushed to death.

Leeds Crown Court heard how Alan Fletcher was killed when a case of glass was being unloaded from a cargo container on 6 April 2006. Two cargo handlers and a supervisor were also present while the cases were being unloaded from an open top freight container at Roadway's container in Stourton.

The incident occurred when Mr Fletcher tried to stop the final case from falling as it was being lifted from the container. The case weighed approximately two tonnes.

During the investigation by the Health and Safety Executive it was found that Mr Fletcher and his colleagues had not received adequate training for lifting operations nor had a risk assessment or any formal planning been carried out before the incident. The case itself had not been properly secured prior to the lifting.

Roadways Container Logistics Limited was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £100,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Following the hearing, HSE Inspector Morag Irwin said: "This hearing highlights the importance of having an effective system in place for managing health and safety generally and specifically when lifting heavy goods, and I hope it serves as a warning to other companies."

Inspector Irwin concluded: "In this case, the measures in place were grossly inadequate; there was a failure to carry out a risk assessment or formal planning, as well as a lack of training, all of which resulted in the tragic and unnecessary death of an employee that so easily could have been avoided."