A FATHER was quizzed by Government inspectors for failing to carry out safety procedures which indirectly led to his son being injured, a court heard yesterday.).

Colin Dawson, of Stanley, in County Durham, sustained severe head injuries after falling from a roof of a building where he worked.

The Explorer Group caravan manufacturers, at Delves Lane near Consett, admitted failing to provide a safe system of work and was fined £3,000 by Consett magistrates.

Mr Dawson, 27, a joiner, suffered concussion and disorientation after falling 8ft from the roof of a prefabricated building he was building, on December 28, 2000. He has since returned to work.

The Health and Safety Executive, which brought the charges, talked to his father, Malcolm Dawson, who was safety manager at the firm on the day of the accident, the court heard.

The company agreed it had failed to provide safe ladders or a platform on the day, and had not examined safety issues properly on the day.

But solicitor Jonathan Dunkley for the Explorer Group, said it had never been before the courts previously.

He added that the company had conducted its own thorough investigation. The accident had occurred at a time when it was relocating to new premises and that the project manager in charge of safety at the time was no longer with the firm