A roofing company boss has been jailed for 12 months after he was found guilty of manslaughter.

Today's sentence for Colin Cooper, owner of East Sussex-based IC Roofing, follows the death of one of his employees, Darren Hoofe, who fell 6m through a skylight in November 2005 while carrying out roof repairs at the Bellbrook Industrial Estate in Uckfield.

Cooper has been disqualified for holding a directors position for three years, and his company has been fined £20,000.

He earlier pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The court heard that Hoofe had not received health and safety training and was not wearing a harness.

Speaking after Cooper pleaded guilty, Amanda Huff, HSE inspector, said: "The tragedy of Darren Hoofe's death is that it could so easily have been avoided. If fatal accidents are to be prevented then work must be adequately planned and appropriate measures taken before work starts."