A young construction worker was buried alive in a horrifying trench collapse that prosecutors said should never have happened.
Gheorghita Arsene, 33, known to friends and co-workers as “Geo,” died after a 10-foot-deep trench suddenly caved in while he was working at a construction site in Banstead, Surrey.
The tragedy unfolded on June 24, 2020, at a site on Park Road, where an old care home had been demolished to make way for a new purpose-built facility.
Arsene, a Romanian national, had been sent down into the deep trench to help replace a damaged pipe. The trench had been dug using a three-tonne digger, and Arsene was at the bottom clearing soil with a shovel and pickaxe.
Then, without warning, disaster struck.
One or more of the trench walls collapsed, sending soil crashing down onto him.
A co-worker operating a digger saw what was happening and shouted a warning. Arsene managed to take only a couple of steps before he was swallowed by the earth.
His colleague rushed for help as desperate efforts began to free him. Workers tried to dig away soil from his face and body, but the weight of the collapsed earth made the rescue painfully difficult.
Firefighters and ambulance crews raced to the scene, but paramedics were unable to properly treat him because he was trapped so tightly in the trench.
The situation was so dire that rescuers could not remove Arsene from the hole. They were also unable to perform chest compressions because of the amount of soil pinning him down.
He was pronounced dead at 2:44 p.m., about an hour after the collapse.
At the Old Bailey, jurors heard that health and safety inspectors later found there were no supports in place to protect the trench walls. The court was also told that excavated soil had been dumped right beside the trench, adding to the danger.
Prosecutor John McGuinness KC told jurors the death was “entirely avoidable.”
“It should never have happened,” he said.
After a trial lasting more than three months, principal contractor Appledorn Developments Limited and T Vaughan Limited were both convicted of failing to discharge their health and safety duties.
Contracts manager Anthony O’Connor, 42, of Romford, Essex, pleaded guilty on Friday to failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety Act 1974. The prosecution accepted his plea.
O’Connor had previously faced a manslaughter charge, but jurors were discharged after deliberating for more than 73 hours without reaching a verdict.
Site manager Peter Wraith, 54, of New Waltham, Lincolnshire, was cleared of manslaughter.
Assistant site manager Gregory Peake, 51, of Bromley, southeast London, was acquitted of failing to discharge his health and safety duty.
Judge Judy Khan KC ordered a pre-sentence report and adjourned sentencing until September 7.
For Arsene’s loved ones, the convictions come years after a workplace disaster that turned a routine construction job into a nightmare.
A man went to work, climbed into a trench, and never came home.