A FIREWOOD supply firm has admitted causing the death of a young father who fell off a roof at work in the Ramsbottom area.

The company’s owners also now face jail for a separate charge of failing to ensure the safety of Benjamin Edge, who was killed in a horror fall at the Fletcher Bank Quarry site in Shuttleworth.

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Bosses and another employee, who were there at the time of the incident also tried to cover up their mistakes, Manchester Crown Court heard.

SR and RJ Brown Limited, of Walmersley, pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter in relation to the death of Mr Edge, a 25-year-old with a three-year-old daughter.

Mr Edge, from Greenmount, was working at Fletcher Bank at 10.10am on December 10, 2014, when the incident took place.

He was taken to Salford Royal Hospital with severe head injuries, but doctors were unable to save him.

Directors of SR and RJ Brown, Christopher and Robert Brown, also admitted to failing to ensure the safety of Peter Heap, who was not employed by the company but was also working on the site.

Heap himself admitted to a perverting the course of justice charge by leaving the site after the incident to fetch harnesses and lanyards to make it look as though Mr Edge had been provided with the right equipment.

Christopher and Robert Brown also to a perverting the course of justice offence by asking Heap to do this.

Mark Aspin, director of MA Excavations Limited, the contractor in charge of dismantling the part of the site from which Mr Edge fell, also admitted to health and safety offences.

Christopher Brown, aged 25, Robert Brown, 31, Aspin, 36, and Heap, 33, were bailed for a sentencing hearing on March 15 and 16.

Recorder of Manchester Judge David Stockdale QC warned them this did not necessarily mean they will avoid jail.

Judge Stockdale said: “The fact that I have given you bail today does not affect the severity of the sentence, and it does not mean you will not receive a custodial sentence.”