Firm founded by ex-Doncaster Rovers supemo fined £500,000 after man's death

Mark Pinder, 51, was working for East Riding Sacks Ltd, a manufacturer of paper sacks, at its site in Stamford Bridge, near York, when the incident happened on 11 February 2023.

Mr Pinder, from York, had been operating one of the production lines when a blockage occurred on the upper deck of the machinery.

After identifying the cause, he attempted to remove the blockage.

He had been standing on the stationery metal rollers when his colleagues witnessed part of the machine being activated. Mr Pinder was struck by the machine which caused him to lose his footing.

He fell approximately three metres from the unguarded edge of the metal rollers to the factory floor below.

Although paramedics were called to the factory, he died at the scene as a result of his injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that East Riding Sacks Ltd failed to provide a robust safe system of work.

This related to the isolation of the sack making line and the removal of blockages. They also failed to identify the risk from a fall from height and implement appropriate measures.

The firm was founded by former Doncaster Rovers club benefactor Ken Richardson, with the firm’s logo featuring on Rovers’ shirts during his reign.

Mr Richardson died at the age of 84 in August 2023.

Falls from height remains one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death and HSE has detailed guidance on working safely at height.

The HSE investigation also found that workers routinely cleared blockages themselves, relying solely on the interlock guarding to stop the machine, even though they had not been adequately trained in isolation or blockage removal procedures.

In addition, workers were using the conveyor belt as a shortcut between gantries, often climbing over the handrails onto the equipment rather than down the stairs and walking around. Management were unaware of this practice.

HSE guidance states employers must take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery and to avoid work at height where possible.

Where routine access is required to components, suitable measures should be taken to stop the movement of dangerous parts before a person can reach a danger zone.

East Riding Sacks Ltd, of Full Sutton Industrial Estate, Stamford Bridge, Full Sutton, York, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 . The company was fined £533,000 and ordered to pay £6,066 in costs at Hull Magistrates Court on 30 April 2025.

HSE inspector Elliot Archer said: “Every year, a significant proportion of accidents, many of them serious and often fatal, occur as a result of people accessing dangerous parts of machinery and working at height.

“Where access beyond machinery guarding and safety devices is required for the removal of blockages, robust isolation procedures to remove all sources of power should be implemented alongside a suitable safe systems of work.

“Had these been in place, and the recognition of work at height being undertaken been flagged by the company, with appropriate controls implemented, this incident would have been avoidable”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Karen Park and paralegal officer Lucy Gallagher.

Richardson, who oversaw the downfall of the club in the late 1990s and was jailed for his part in a botched arson plot to burn down the club’s former Belle Vue ground,

At his trial in 1999, the wealthy businessman, who built his fortune on the sack factory, offered £10,000 to a former SAS soldier to start the fire in 1995 at the club's Belle Vue ground, causing damage put at £100,000.

The prosecution said Richardson's intention was to try to force Rovers to move to a new stadium.

The plan failed when Alan Kristiansen, who was hired to start the fire, left his mobile phone at the scene and was quickly traced and arrested.

He was jailed for four years for his part in the plot and after his release went into hiding and obscurity on the Isle of Man.