A FAMILY company faces a £11,455 court bill after a roofer fractured his skull in a 7.1 metre fall.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Julian Franklin told York Magistrates Court Callum Holmes also suffered other injuries and was off work for at least eight months after he crashed through the roof where he was working without safety precautions.

The court heard firm he was working for, Mitchell Roofing Ltd, of Rillington, Ryedale, had not carried out a risk assessment before sending him and two other men onto the roof of Monk Bridge Construction Ltd at Elvington Industrial Estate in January last year.

Mr Franklin said Mitchell Roofing had also failed to erect a safety net, scaffolding or safety barriers, or give workers safety harnesses.

He said: “Callum was very lucky because he lived."

Mr Franklin added that falls from heights such as roofs are the biggest cause of fatal accidents in the construction industry.

Mitchell Roofing pleaded guilty to failure to ensure Mr Holmes’ safety. It was fined £10,000, plus £1,355 prosecution costs, plus a £100 statutory surcharge. A civil law case over the incident is pending.

The firm's solicitor Ben Derrington said Mr Holmes was now back at work, and the company had paid him throughout his convalescence, although he was self-employed.

“They felt it was their duty after what had occurred,” he said. “It is a business which prides itself on looking after its people.”