Council hit with £500,000 fine after falling tree kills man walking dog in park

Cheshire East Council has been hit with a hefty £500,000 fine following the tragic incident where a tree limb fell and killed Chris Hall, a father-of-one, while he was walking his dog in The Carrs park in Wilmslow on August 28, 2020.

The 48 year old was fatally injured by a limb from a Lime tree, which had previously shown signs of instability when another large limb fell just 11 months earlier in September 2019.

Despite being reported to Cheshire East Council and Ansa Environmental Services Ltd, their grounds services contractor, only a visual inspection was conducted, with no substantial action taken to address the "significant" structural issues, prosecutor Matt Reynolds informed Chester Magistrates Court. The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) investigation revealed a lack of adequate tree inspection and absence of a council strategy for managing risks from trees in public spaces, despite concerns raised by other Ansa staff about the tree's condition.

Both the council and Ansa admitted to breaching section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act by exposing the public to risk, pleading guilty at an earlier hearing. In court, Mr Hall's wife Fiona read a victim impact statement, watched by their son Sam and around 20 friends and family who were seated in the public gallery. Mrs Hall described her husband as someone who "loved life and life loved him".

She added that his death was "His death was utterly senseless and wholly avoidable," stating he was simply walking their dog on a dry, warm, summer’s day. "His loss is colossal; his absence is immense and he leaves a void that can never be filled," she said.

The court heard that five or six people each year in the UK are killed by falling branches or trees, with the risk being one chance in 10 million of being killed that way. David Lewis, representing the local authority and Ansa, offered their condolences to Mr Hall’s family and said a tree inspection regime was now in place.

However, he noted that the council had a £20.5 million overspend this year and any fine would mean money meant for local services would go into central government coffers, in an "inefficient recycling of funds". District Judge John McGarva, passing sentence, said: "The 2019 limb fall should have been a wake-up call and prevented this tragedy."

He stated he could not equate any level of fine with the value of Mr Hall’s life and the council and Ansa were being fined because of how they managed risk. But he told the court the law suggests fines for public bodies and charities should be reduced if it would have a significant impact on public services.

Judge McGarva declared that if a private company were involved, the fine would have reached £1.5 million, but given the public status of the bodies in question, the council was ordered to pay £500,000 and Ansa a nominal £5, alongside legal costs totalling £7,284. Post-hearing, HSE inspector Lorna Sherlock remarked: "This was an utterly tragic event that has caused the death of a much-loved husband and father.

"Had this public area been better managed, this death might have been avoided. No lessons were learned from the limb falling off the tree less than a year before. Fiona and the family have shown great courage and fortitude throughout their ordeal."

In a recent move, Cheshire East Council has opted to bring the services of Ansa back "in-house".