Camden Council in North London was fined £56,000 at the Old Bailey after a scaffolder was fatally electrocuted by an unearthed wall light on one of its housing estates.

The council was found guilty of breaching s.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, by failing to inspect light fittings in the estate and therefore endangering public safety. Judge Richard Hone imposed a £40,000 fine and ordered the council to pay more than £16,000 in costs.

The accident occurred when 24-year-old Ralph Kennedy was clearing scaffolding and accidentally touched the live metal casing of an external wall light. He received a massive electric shock and went into cardiac arrest.

Paramedics were called to the scene but were unable to revive him. A police community support officer attending to Kennedy brushed up against the lamp and also received an electric shock.

A joint investigation by the police and the HSE found that the earth wire inside the connection box leading to the external wall light had been cut. Valerie Charbit for the prosecution said, “There is no evidence that the light involved in the accident had even undergone routine maintenance to ensure its safety since it was installed in the early 1980s.”

HSE inspector Kerry Williams said, “All employers, including those providing social housing must have a planned maintenance program for the inspection and testing of their electrical installations.”