Fermanagh District Council has been fined a total of £45,000 arising out of the tragic death of a digger driver two years ago.
Omagh Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard how contractor Ronie Marshall, 60, was trapped inside his cab after his digger toppled into a pool at Drummee land fill site on the outskirts of Enniskillen in April 2008.
Judge Gemma Loughran said while nothing the court could do could bring back the father of five, nor any monetary fine could measure his life's worth, the court had a duty to send out the message that such tragic accidents should never happen.
Fermanagh Council had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, through its Chief Executive Rodney Connor, to two charges under health and safety legislation in failing to protect not only their own employees, but also those not directly employed by them.
Prosecuting lawyer David McAughey said while the Drummee site had only been in operation for about two years, "it was clear that all the matters which should of been in place were not in place" for its proper running.
In one section of the former quarry, water was gathering and an electric pump was placed to pump the run-off from rain water and from the rubbish out of the hole, but it apparently stopped working.
Mr McAughey said Mr Marshall was working at the site in his digger and asked to investigate and, on discovering the pump was still working but that its pipe work was dislodged, he was returning the pump when the tragedy occurred.
'Devastating'
The lawyer explained that as Mr Marshall was manoeuvred his digger for a second time it slipped forward and down on one side and tumbled into the water.
"Very unfortunately and fatally it was the left-hand side that went down, the side the cab was on and Mr Marshall was trapped in the cab, now under the water ..... and unfortunately he died from a lack of oxygen to the brain," said Mr McAughey.
Defence QC Frank O'Donaghue said his death has had devasting consequences for all, but that ultimately in hindsight, and possibly with foresight, these matters should have been dealt with.
However, the lawyer claimed that this was not a case of wanton disregard for all the health and safety features.
Mr O'Donaghue said up until then 20 separate risk assessments had been made on site, but accepted nothing had been done about the water hole.
Mr Marshall, he added, "was asked to help out, and it was when returning the pump that this dreadful accident happened".
"This has been a tragedy not only for the family of Mr Marshall, but also throughout the entire Council area," said Mr O'Donaghue.
He said since the tragedy the Council - through its new Health and Safety manager, Mark Mullholland, who took the sentence on Friday - had set up stringent regulations whereby risks were not only identified but also notified to all concerned.
Later in a written statement, Fermanagh District Chairman Cllr Robert Irvine said that the whole Council "was rocked by the tragic death of Ronnie".
© UTV News