A PARTNER of a firm which specialises in central heating and fuel stoves has appeared in court charged with failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his employees after a man died while working for him.

Mark Anthony Flintoft, 58, from Northallerton, did not enter a plea, and the case was sent directly to York Crown Court, to be heard on Monday, December 16.

In a related allegation, Northallerton Heating Centre has also been charged with corporate manslaughter after the death of 24-year-old Luke Crocher on April 5, 2018.

At a hearing at Harrogate Magistrates' Court on Thursday, November 21, the court heard Northallerton Heating Centre had been engaged to fit a boiler at a property in Bishop Monkton, near Ripon.

It is alleged that Mr Flintoft carried out initial assessments for the job, before a group of workers from the firm attended to carry out the job.

Mr Crocher fell from a second story extension of the property to his death while carrying out his work.