Defence chief Nicholas Prest, 71, and his wife Anthea, 70, are accused of being to blame for the death of gardener Paul Marsden at their sprawling 15-acre estate while he was weedkilling.
The pair are accused of failing to give adequate safety gear or training to gardeners working at the estate with swimming pool and gardens.
A court heard they employed gardeners Paul Marsden and Nicholas Miles to work on the grounds of their country estate.
Former Ministry of Defence official Mr Prest and his mother-of-three wife are each accused of two charges under the Health and Safety at Work act in relation to Mr Marsden’s death – but do not face charges of manslaughter.
Instead they are accused over charges of failing to check workers had protective equipment and that the quad bike was safe to use.
On the day of the tragedy Mr Marsden brought cake to share with Mr Miles at their break time with a cup of coffee – but didn’t show up for their planned meeting.
Mr Miles, who had been power washing around the couple’s swimming pool and surrounding garden furniture, said he began to get concerned when Mr Marsden didn’t arrive.
He said: “I was getting ready to pressure wash the stone slabs around the swimming pool and the garden furniture around the swimming pool.
“When I turned up Paul was busy putting weedkiller into the quadbike sprayer and filling it with water.
“He seemed fine, we had a general chat. He seemed his normal self. He brought some cakes in he said he had brought them in for breaktime.”
Mr Miles said the last time he saw Mr Marsden was around 10.10am when he drove off on the bike.
He said: “We normally have a break around 11am. If Paul was working we would try and have it together.”
Prosecutor James Puzey asked: “Did he join you that day?”
Mr Miles said: “He didn’t no.”
Mr Puzey said: “Did you think anything of that at the time?”
“Yes, I was expecting him to come back down around 11am.”
Mr Miles said he went back to work after his break until he stopped for lunch around 1.05pm and Mr Marsden did not turn up.
Mr Puzey said: “What were you thinking at that stage?”
Mr Miles said: “I was really worried by that point. I think at about 11.55am I saw Anthea and I said to her ‘Paul hasn’t come down for break, I expect he has been way-laid’ and she kind of agreed with that.
“Because it was a task I had never seen him do before I just thought maybe it was taking longer than expected.”
“I was worried really about 11.30am when he didn’t come down for his break and I was more and more worried as time went on.”
Mr Puzey asked: “Did you decide to go and look for him?”
Mr Miles said: “I did. At about 1.30pm I went to look for him. I knew he was working somewhere behind the house.
“There’s like three or four fields behind the house and I didn’t know which one of those he was going to be in.
“I went through a couple of fields and I think he was in the third field.
“He was in the top of the field, basically on a very steep bit at the top.
“I could see the quadbike had turned over. Initially I was hoping he would be stood next to it.
“It was turned over. When I got close enough to see I could see he was underneath it.
“The quadbike had come down on his back and he was pinned to the ground with his arms out-stretched.
“Initially I shouted to him as I was getting closer and closer but as I got up close I could see that he had started to go blue.”
Mr Miles said he raised the alarm by calling a neighbouring farmer and ringing emergency services and was “distraught” friend’s death.
Mr Miles revealed he only went on a course on how to safely use the quad bike following the tragedy and learned proper riding technique as well as how to check the vehicle was fit for use.
A court heard Mr Marsden had worked for the couple since 2013 and been using a quad bike to spray weed killer on farmland surrounding their home when he fell in April 2020.
Mr Puzey said Mr and Mrs Prest “had a legal responsibility to ensure that the workers on their land were safe.”
But he said they failed to do what they “would have and should have done” to prevent the accident by not providing adequate training and PPE.
Mr Puzey said a Health and Safety Executive investigation “Concluded that the use of the quadbike was seriously unsafe, and that no suitable safety precautions were taken beforehand”.
A post-mortem examination revealed he had died of asphyxia.
Mr Puzey said Mr Marsden had not been trained to drive the vehicle, was not provided with PPE, and the Prests had not ensured the weight of the herbicide tank was safe.
He said the land where the accident happened was also “relatively steep, with uneven and rough ground conditions.”
He said: “There were a series of factors here that would have increased the risk of an accident such as this happening.
“Mr and Mrs Prest would have and should have done something to control that risk.”
Mr Puzey said Mr Marsden was working on fields surrounding the Prests home that they were renting from a nearby farmer for grazing cattle.
Newport Crown Court heard the Prests rented the 42.6 acres of farmland where Mr Marsden was found, for £27,500 per term and in turn received common agricultural funding payments for £16,651 in 2020.
One charge states the Prests didn’t check that persons including Paul Marsden “were exposed to risks arising from the failure to provide suitable and sufficient training, plant and personal protective equipment when using all-terrain vehicles.”
The other charge states the couple: “Failed to take such measures as it was reasonable for you to take to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that plants provided for use, namely that an all terrain vehicle, was safe and without risk to non-employees, namely Paul Marsden, for use on the premises.”
Keith Morton KC, defending, said Mr Marsden was working on a self-employed basis and was working at his own risk.
Mr Prest, previously worked for the MoD before setting up his own companies and is now the chairman of defence technology giant Cohort.
He lives with Mrs Prest at the countryside house close to the village of Llandogo, in Monmouthshire which overlooks the River Wye and across into the Forest of Dean.
The couple have previously hosted a number of garden parties at the Pilstone House home as charity fundraising events for causes such as the NHS and the Ukraine.
The trial continues.
Comments are closed.