A BLACKBURN businessman has been jailed for breaches of health and safety regulations after an employee fell 26ft to his death.

Latvian national Ivars Bahmanis, 55, died after he fell from the former canal works building in Manner Sutton Street in 2012.

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Tameem Shafi, 31, was jailed for 45 weeks, while two more members of his family received suspended prison sentences for breaches of health and safety.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Mr Bahmanis, a carpenter who had served in Latvia’s army, ‘died needlessly’. Shafi, of Clarence Street, Blackburn, was in charge of the project and pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Work at Height regulations 2005.

The sentencing, at Preston Crown Court, heard how Mr Bahmanis, a father-of-two, was carrying out refurbishment work involving installing metal brackets for new roof joists. On January 29, 2012, while he was working alone, he fell from the eight metre wall ‘due to a complete lack of safety measures being in place’, the HSE said.

During the investigation, the HSE discovered that a second employee, Juris Lesinkis, had fallen from a height and broken his leg at the same site - an accident which was not reported.

The prosecution followed an investigation by the HSE which found that the defendants had failed to plan the work at height or employ competent contractors.

Mill owner Mohammed Shafi Karbhari, 59, also of Clarence Street, was sentenced to 24 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £20,000 towards prosecution costs.

Umar Shafi, 20, also of Clarence Street, was in charge of the work on the day, and was sentenced to 120 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £3,900 towards prosecution costs.

Following the case HSE inspector, Allen Shute, said: “The dangers of working at height are well known – and can be easily and safely managed. .

“The defendants tried to save money by asking unskilled workers to carry out hazardous work around the building. As a result Mr Bahmanis died needlessly in a horrifying incidentwhich could and should have been prevented.

“There hadbeen a previous incident on site where another worker fell from height and broke his leg, which was never reported to HSE and only came out during the investigation. This should have served as a warning to them.”