MUA fined £17,000 after death of worker

The Manx Utilities Authority has been fined £17,000 after a wall collapsed in Peel, killing a worker.

Laurence Gell, a worker with the former Water and Sewerage Authority, died in December 2012 while working to replace a pipe in the town. 

Mr Gell, who was 52, was carrying out excavation work to replace a water pipe near to the former Creg Malin Hotel when the wall collapsed on him 23 months ago.

Today, the MUA – which had pleaded guilty to failing to discharge its duty, was fined £17,000 and will also have to pay a further £5,000 in costs.

An inquest last year returned a verdict of accidental death.