An apprentice carpenter, 18, was crushed to death by a stack of unsecured wooden boards while working alone on a house renovation in North Wales. The tragedy occurred on December 20, 2023, at a property on Deiniol Road in Bangor.
Chloe Bidwell, from Anglesey, was discovered dead after she failed to return home and did not respond to text messages. The boards, each weighing up to 30kg, had been stacked vertically against a wall without any securing measures. Investigators believe she may have been trying to retrieve a plywood board when the stack collapsed onto her, crushing her neck and causing fatal injuries.
Employer and Director Sentenced for Safety Failings
Varcity Living Ltd, the property management firm that employed Miss Bidwell, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £10,080 in prosecution costs at Llandudno Magistrates Court.
Director David Horrocks, of Felinheli, admitted breaching section 37 of the same Act and was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £7,886 in costs.
The court heard that a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Varcity Living Limited failed to provide safe systems of work, adequate information, instruction, training, and supervision. The failures were attributable to Horrocks' neglect. Investigators noted inadequate site supervision, no suitable lone working policy, no safe storage procedure for board materials, and an inadequate risk assessment prior to the incident.
Mother's Heartbreaking Tribute
Speaking after sentencing, Chloe's mother, Clare Stephenson-Brown, said: "Chloe was only 18, full of life, energy, and determination. She had so many talents and dreams: a skilled joiner, a rugby player, a surfer, a skydiver, and a young woman who was about to travel the world and begin her journey towards becoming a firefighter. She was wise beyond her years, brave, and incredibly grounded."
She added: "Chloe died instantly and alone. The fact that she was by herself in those final moments is something that causes us unbearable pain and something we will carry forever. Knowing how full of life she was and how much she had yet to experience makes her loss impossible to accept."
Ms Stephenson-Brown urged employers to take safety seriously: "We just hope that those responsible truly understand the enormity of what has happened... We urge employers to look beyond compliance and truly consider the responsibility they hold for the lives in their care. Safety must be meaningful in practice, ensuring risks are properly managed, lone working is safe, and that everyone who goes to work returns home."
HSE Inspector Condemns Avoidable Tragedy
HSE inspector Rachael Newman said Miss Bidwell was a young apprentice joiner at the start of her career and had every right to expect basic safety measures. She stated: "The tragedy of Chloe's death is made all the more jarring because it was so wholly avoidable. Apprentices should not be working alone on a construction site, and Chloe died in circumstances which should never have been able to happen."
Newman highlighted that the company had no safe storage system for the dangerously heavy boards, which were stacked upright and unsecured, and failed to provide necessary information, instruction, training, and supervision for their young apprentice. She concluded: "Today's result cannot bring Chloe back, but we hope the sentence handed down brings some solace to her family."
