Council fined £500k after dog walker crushed to death by tree branch

A council which failed to act on warnings about an unsafe tree was fined £500,000 yesterday after a dog walker was killed when a massive branch fell on him.

Chris Hall, 48, was exercising his cocker spaniel Benson in The Carrs Park in Wilmslow, Cheshire in August 2020 when a three-ton bough from a 134ft lime tree crashed down on top of him, causing fatal injuries.

It later emerged that another limb of the same tree had fallen the previous September, but a recommendation that it be ‘crowned’ was not carried out, a court heard.

The council also received warnings from individual members of staff but ‘nothing happened’.

As Cheshire East Council was fined £500,000 after admitting breaching health and safety legislation, Mr Hall’s widow, Fiona, 55, called for a national tree management policy ‘so we can all go for nice walks without fear of never returning home’.

‘In this day and age, losing your partner or father in such circumstances should not happen,’ Mrs Hall said.

‘No-one should go out for a nice walk and not return home because trees are not properly maintained.

‘The tree that killed Chris was reported to be unsafe a year before his death but no action was taken.’

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Local council is being prosecuted after death of father, 48, killed by falling 134ft lime tree

The father-of-one, who was a senior account manager for a software business, was exercising the family dog on a regular route when the tragedy happened.

Passers-by raised the alarm after finding Mr Hall, but he died soon afterwards despite the efforts of emergency services.

Since his death, his widow and son Sam, 25, have raised thousands for children’s health charities and set up a sculpture in his memory in the park where he died.

They were supported by 20 friends in court at Chester Magistrates Court as they heard Matt Reynolds, for the Health and Safety Executive, say that the council had no ‘robust’ tree risk management strategy.

He said that the faults in the tree should have been identified after the previous bough fell in September 2019.

‘The risk of falling trees or branches is clearly foreseeable and should have been recognised,’ he added.

Mrs Hall in a victim statement she read to the court said she wanted ‘to speak directly’ to the people responsible for the death of her husband.

‘Chris loved life and life loved him,’ she said.

‘He was killed by a systematic and gross failing. His death was senseless and unavoidable.

‘The result of your actions took Chris from this world and the shock, pain and devastation of his loss remains. He leaves a void which can never be filled.

‘Your gross negligence did this to him. You simply crushed him to death.

‘I want to ensure that this does not happen again to another innocent member of the public.’

Cheshire East Council and Ansa Environmental Services, a company owned by the authority, both pleaded guilty to exposing members of the public to a risk to their health and safety.

David Lewis, for both defendants, said both had ‘enormous regret and contrition'.

He told the court a tree management strategy had now been adopted and more staff recruited to ensure more ‘proactive work’ takes place.

Ansa was fined a nominal £5 after District Judge John McGarver said they were effectively the same defendant.

He said: ‘It is easy to forget that this case is about a human being out walking his dog on a summer's day.

‘He was entitled to feel safe but he never came home.

‘He was a popular man who was devoted to his wife and grown-up son. He had much to look forward to when his life was cut tragically short.’

He said that the council had fallen ‘far below’ their obligations.