Ian McCollum, aged 52, was first hit when the vehicle drove forward with its view blocked, then struck a second time as it reversed. 

McKinstry Biomass Ltd and 53-year-old Walter Manley of Loanda Crescent, Newry, were sentenced on 8 July 2026 following the death at the company’s Derryboy Road site in Newry on 24 January 2022. 

The sentencing follows a joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). 

McKinstry Biomass Ltd was fined a total of £120,000 for three separate health and safety offences. Walter Manley, who was employed by the company at the time, was given an immediate custodial sentence of three years and four months after pleading guilty to manslaughter and a further 12-month sentence for a separate health and safety offence. These sentences are to run concurrently with half on licence.

The tragedy happened when Mr McCollum, an employee of McKinstry Skip Hire Ltd, had driven a Volvo tractor unit with a 40ft ejector trailer of wood waste to the Newry site for disposal. 

While he stood in the yard watching the waste being ejected from his trailer, a JCB Wastemaster telehandler driven by Manley moved towards the same waste bay and struck him. 

The telehandler then tipped its load and reversed, striking Mr McCollum a second time. He was fatally injured. 

The joint investigation found significant failings in the management of workplace transport risks by McKinstry Biomass Ltd and that their risk assessment failed to adequately segregate vehicles from pedestrians. They also failed to manage the site in such a way that both pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner, placing both Mr McCollum and others at risk.

This extended to a lack of suitable information, instruction and training in relation to working within operational areas of the site where vehicles and pedestrians would interact. There was inadequate supervision, a lack of communication, and a system of unwritten rules rather than formal protocols in relation to control measures. 

A reconstruction of the incident found that the telehandler’s raised, waste-filled bucket left Manley with little to no forward visibility as he approached Mr McCollum. The cab’s rear window was dirty obstructing its visibility, and the offside rear mirror was significantly misadjusted, leaving Manley unable to see behind the vehicle. 

Manley failed to identify Mr McCollum in the machine’s rear camera before reversing. 

Prosecutors in the Public Prosecution Service’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked with HSENI and the PSNI to build the case. 

HSENI major investigation team inspector Kiara Blackburn said: “No job should cost a person their life. Mr McCollum’s death was wholly preventable and highlights the high cost of health and safety standards falling short. 

“It also serves as a stark reminder that vehicles at work continue to be a significant cause of fatal and major injuries in Northern Ireland. Health and safety measures cannot be treated as optional. Simple, effective control measures must be put in place and maintained. Detailed advice on managing workplace transport risks is readily available to all employers,” she said.

“Employees also have a responsibility to take reasonable care for the safety of others and to operate vehicles properly in line with their training and instruction. This tragedy has had devastating consequences for his family, friends and colleagues.

“We hope this prosecution sends a clear message that failures of this nature can have irreversible consequences and that HSENI will not hesitate to take enforcement action to ensure workplace transport risks are appropriately managed.”