A CRANE operator killed when his 125-tonne vehicle careered down a hill at Europe’s largest wind farm had predicted poor maintenance would be the death of him, a court heard.

The last words Lindsay Easton, 49, said to his partner were that the brakes on his crane weren’t working, as he tried to take the huge machine down a zig-zag slope from Scout Moor, at Edenfield, Preston Crown Court was told.

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Mr Easton, who had 20 years’ experience, made it around the first corner but failed to negotiate a second bend, crashing into banking and being crushed to death in his cab.

Later, it was found by the Health and Safety Executive that four of the five braking systems had either been disabled or were damaged – with only a poorly maintained retarder still in operation.

Baldwins Crane Hire Ltd has been accused of the corporate manslaughter of Mr Easton, in a case brought jointly by the HSE and Lancashire Police, which is thought to be one of the first in the country.

Andrew Thomas QC, prosecuting, said that subsequent checks of Baldwin’s seven-strong heavy crane fleet found that 75 per cent required significant repairs and/or replacement parts of braking systems, leading to two further health and safety charges for the firm, whose headquarters is in Slough.

Jurors were told that even before the fatal crash, in August 2011, Mr Easton, from Sowerby Bridge, had quit Baldwins once before amid concerns over the maintenance record of the national company’s cranes.

Cross-examined by Mr Thomas about his misgivings, his then-partner, Carol Robinson, said: “He said that it was going to kill him.”

Baldwins, through chairman Richard Baldwin and managing director Wayne Baldwin, have denied all three charges.

The trial continues.