William Houston was struck by a falling stone and passed away later in hospital due to injuries sustained.
19:11, 13 Mar 2026Updated 19:14, 13 Mar 2026
William Houston
A Co Antrim manufacturing firm has been fined £110,000 at Antrim Crown Court after pleading guilty to a single health and safety offence.
The investigation followed the death of William Houston, a subcontractor working at FP McCann’s Loughside Quarry in Larne on 23 April 2023. The fine comes after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).
On Friday, the court heard that on 23 April 2023, Mr Houston was assigned the task of driving a dumper truck, removing stone from the cone crushing plant and placing it into stockpiles. At around lunchtime, the cone crusher plant had stopped and a blockage was reported.
The plant was isolated and a large stone – weighing approximately 45kg – was observed to be causing the blockage. The stone was manually removed from the crusher and carried to a raised conveyor catwalk, approximately 15ft from ground level.
During this move, the stone fell through the railings of the raised conveyor catwalk as Mr Houston was walking below. Mr Houston was struck by the falling stone and passed away later in hospital due to injuries sustained.
Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with HSENI to build a robust prosecution case.
Speaking after the hearing, Sophie Pearson, an inspector within HSENI’s Major Investigation Team, said: “This was a tragic incident. Employers must take adequate measures to prevent materials or objects falling from height.
“They must stop and consider what risks are involved in the task and take the necessary action, so that harm does not occur to employees, or as in this tragic incident, to someone like Mr Houston who was subcontracted to work at the site.
“Where it is not reasonably practicable to prevent objects from falling, employers should take suitable and sufficient measures to ensure that nobody can be injured. A simple solution such as an exclusion zone can be easily implemented to reduce the risk to workers.”
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