Fisherman's Friends manslaughter trial: Shropshire company boss accused of gig deaths had 'casual approach to safety', court told

Fisherman's Friends singer Trevor Grills and the band's promoter Paul McMullen were killed after a steel door, designed and manufactured by Express Hi-Fold Doors Limited, collapsed while they were unloading music equipment from their van.

David Naylor, 57, director of Express Hi-Fold Doors Limited in Telford, denies two charges of manslaughter by gross negligence and the company denies a third charge of a breach of health and safety laws.

Mr Grills, a vocalist with the sea shanty group, from Port Isaac in Cornwall, was struck by the door at the G Live theatre in Guildford on February 9 2013, hours before he was due to perform.

The 54-year-old died in hospital days later on February 12.

Mr McMullen, 44, from Disley in Stockport, died at the scene after being crushed under the bi-fold door and suffering leg injuries.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC told a jury at Guildford Crown Court in Surrey that the type of door manufactured by the company was "unique" in the UK and had no "anti-drop safeguard".

She added similar doors the firm had supplied had failed before.

She said: "The prosecution allege that Mr Naylor knew or ought to have known that there was a serious risk of a door such as this falling and possibly killing someone because prior to the event of 9 February, another of his doors had fallen, fortunately not killing anybody on those occasions.

"The prosecution alleges that the failure to have an anti-drop safeguard coupled with other evidence of earlier door collapses and this defendant's rather casual approach to safety means that his conduct is so bad as to amount to the offence of gross negligence manslaughter."

Ms Johnson described how the door collapsed on to the two men after two drive chains failed.

"As it was being raised that day, the door fell to floor without warning," she said.

"Mr McMullen was trapped beneath the door by his legs. Although paramedics managed to free him, sadly Mr McMullen was declared dead at the scene.

"Mr Grills was struck to the head by the falling door and was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Sadly he died on the 12th of February.

"The door collapsed that day because two drive chains, linking the motor and gearbox to a drive shaft, failed and the failure of the drive chains disconnected the motor from the drive shaft and as a result of that the door fell."

The chains failed after a "misalignment of the drive sprockets" had caused wear over time, she added.

"The defendant failed to take reasonable steps that if both chains failed there was any appropriate anti-drop safeguard to prevent uncontrolled free-fall of the door," Ms Johnson said.

Naylor, who appeared in the dock wearing a dark grey suit, striped shirt and grey tie, was the owner and sole director of the company, which was formed in Telford in 1997.

The director, of Stourbridge Road, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, had worked in steel construction since he was 17, the court heard.

He had been granted a licence to manufacture the doors, which were an American design, after visiting the US to see how they were made in 1997.

Trial hears about hangar door collapse at Shoreham Airport

The prosecutor told the jury the company had suffered a "series of door collapses and problems" and one customer had even contacted Naylor over concerns that people could have been killed.

Incidents included the collapse of a hangar door at Shoreham Airport in August 2003 after bolts securing the motor and gearbox sheared, following which Naylor wrote in a memo: "We have a major problem."

The court heard that he also recorded that the door had fallen "the full height, luckily without anyone getting killed or damage to aircraft".

Other collapses included a drive chain failure at a Coventry Airport hangar in February 2009 and two similar incidents involving the same model of door at an air ambulance station at Bournemouth Airport in 2008 and 2009.

The automatic mechanisms on a door fitted at the National Shooting Centre in Bisley, which the jury will visit on Thursday, also failed as it was being opened in April 2009.

But Ms Johnson said Naylor attempted to "cast the blame elsewhere" for the failures by suggesting that customers had altered the doors or that the parts provided by his supplier were at fault.

Ms Johnson said: "We have evidence capable of demonstrating that even then Mr Naylor was aware of the possible serious and obvious risk to life if one of his doors collapsed and again perhaps it shows something in his response to his situation as to his attitude towards safety."

The jury also heard that a product specification document, known as a technical file, which was drafted to allow Express Hi-Fold Doors Limited to display the British and European standard CE safety mark on their doors, had not been updated regularly.

Naylor instructed an engineering firm called M-Tech to review the manufacturing and design of the doors in 1998 but, despite warnings from the firm, did not get the file reviewed after he switched from his US supplier of chains and motors to a UK supplier, according to the prosecution.

The door at the Guildford theatre was two tonnes, while the one which was safety-approved in the original technical file was just 1.2 tonnes, Ms Johnson said.

"The defendant did not keep the 1998 technical file updated so the file produced for the G Live door did not reflect the product's components and modelled its safety against out of date standards and regulations," she said.

"There was a complete mismatch between the G Live door, which is a bespoke door, and the details in the technical file.

"Of course these inadequacies, if that's what you find them to be, did not cause the deaths of Mr Grills and Mr McMullen but we suggest it demonstrates a reckless disregard for the safety of door users."

Naylor had a hands-on approach to his business and one staff member referred to the firm as his "little baby", the jury heard.

Fisherman's Friends have enjoyed some success, scoring a top 10 album, a spot on Glastonbury's famous Pyramid Stage at the 2011 festival, and work advertising seafood in television commercials.

The trial continues.