Boy crushed to death by telegraph pole after it fell over as he played

Firm must pay over £150,000, lawyers say

Keiran Esquierdo was killed by a telegraph pole that became dislodged in 2017 (PA)

A company has been fined after a boy was crushed to death by a telegraph pole.

SPIE Limited has been ordered to pay over £150,000 in connection with the incident, which led to the death of 12-year-old Keiran Esquierdo, lawyers representing the boy’s family said.

Keiran was playing with friends in October 2017 when the 10-metre telegraph pole he was standing on became dislodged.

It rolled down a grass embankment, along with the 12-year-old.

Keiran became pinned between the 275kg pole and a concrete fence post at the bottom of the slope, and died at the scene in Kelloholm, Dumfries and Galloway.

A post-mortem examination found asphyxia was the cause of death.

SPIE, the firm that delivered the poles, admitted breaching health and safety laws at Dumfries Sheriff Court on Monday and has been fined £160,000, according to lawyers for Keiran’s family.

Officials found during the investigation that the poles had been delivered to the wrong location and should not have been placed there.

Keiran’s family said: ”Every day we feel Keiran’s absence and our lives will never be the same.

“For the last two years we have waited for answers and justice as we could not heal and start to think of the future without a conclusion to the past.

“Now that it is resolved we hope companies learn from our loss so other families – and also their employees – are spared the pain of having to cope with a death like this.”

A SPIE spokeswoman said: “Firstly, as was stated in the court hearing, SPIE’s thoughts and sincere condolences go out to all the family and Kelloholm community at this difficult time.

“SPIE provided full co-operation to the HSE throughout the investigation. SPIE also undertook a detailed investigation of its own.

“SPIE’s safety policies are a top priority and ensuring the safety of the public, employees, customers and suppliers is of prime importance at all times.

“New processes were immediately put in place to ensure such an incident could not happen again.”

Press Association contributed to this report