OWNERS and operators of a Deeside paper recycling plant where a man was killed have been fined a total of £700,000.

Ex-soldier Austin Thomas was crushed when he was hit by a bucket loader at the UPM papermill in Shotton on February 6, 2017.

Mr Thomas, 29, of Gardeners Row, Oakenholt, Flint, was employed by Downton Haulage Ltd which was contracted to provide warehouse services at the mill.

Gloucester-based Downton Haulage admitted two health and safety charges and UPM-Kymmene Ltd admitted one charge.

Each company was fined £350,000 at North East Wales Magistrates Court at Mold with UPN ordered to pay £6,700 costs and Downton £6,600.

District judge Gwyn Jones said a young man had lost his life and following a through investigation by North Wales Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) it was not known why the driver of the large Volvo shovel loader had not seen him.

There had been sufficient time for the driver to see him and avoided a collision and even to have stopped before reaching him.

It was clear the risk of death or physical impairment was there because there had been no segregation of vehicles and pedestrians within the warehouse, he said.

Both companies had fully co-operated and made changes and accepted their full responsibilities.

The judge said he had a letter from Sandy Thomas, the mother of the young man killed, who had praised the approach of both companies.

It was clear that they had dealt with the matter very properly, he said.

Neither company had previous convictions and the judge said the presence of senior management from UPM and the three brothers who were directors of the Downton company showed how seriously they took their responsibilities.

Both companies had co-operated fully and went above and beyond what would have been expected of them.

Mr Thomas was former pupil of Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold.

The father-of-one joined the army at 17 and served with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of his death as crush injuries.

Craig Morris, prosecuting for the HSE, said there was no segregation of pedestrians working in the warehouse and the shovel loaders operating there.

"That day Austin Thomas was crushed to death when he was hit from behind by a shovel loader as he was walking on the warehouse floor undertaking his normal duties," he said.

He said some 30 to 40 loads of recovered paper and other material arrived at the plant each day.

On the day of the tragedy Darren Wright was driving a loader.

"He had not realised that Mr Thomas was walking down the same side of the warehouse ahead of him," Mr Morris explained.

Mr Thomas was hit, knocked to the ground and killed.

He said there had been an obvious risk of a collision and there was virtually no segregation of vehicles and pedestrians and they were allowed to move around at the same time.

There had been a system in place of people making drivers aware by radio that they were entering the area but that relied on workers having a radio at all times, and drivers remembering to switch on their cab radios and remembering at all times that the pedestrians were there.

"It was asking for trouble," he said.

He alleged that the failing were at a basic level which persisted for a considerable time.

The court heard that since the fatality, a new system of work had been introduced.

There was a locking gate at the access, a new walkway had been constructed around the building which removed the risk of a collision, and a blue light system had been introduced on the shovel loaders to indicate that they were approaching.

All vehicle movements were halted when operators were walking on the warehouse floor.

It was accepted that both were responsible companies, had fully co-operated with the investigation and had made immediate changes.

Both had expressed genuine remorse at what had occurred.

David Lewis, for UPM, said the control measures that had been in place for three decades had been effective and no-one had flagged up any concerns.

Downton, specialist contractors with a high regard for health and safety, were employed from 2013 and regular safety reviews had been carried out.

It needed to be remembered that if the system in place had been adhered to then the vehicle would not have been moving at the time of the collision, he said.

Joe Hart, for Downton, said profound sadness and remorse was shown by all three Downtown directors.

Mr Thomas' father was still employed at the Shotton site and the company felt a real sense of loss.

The company employed a number of former services people and the system of using radios when entering the area was normally strictly adhered to.

A report by a collision investigator made it clear that visibility was not an issue for the driver of the loader.

There had been an agonising 30 second period when he was visible and CCTV showed there was space for the vehicle to go around him.

He said there was no obvious reason for the vehicle to move slightly in the lane and collide with him.

There was no definitive reason why the accident occurred but Mr Hart argued that the accepted failings were not the cause of the incident.

A young man's life had been lost and he said that it had been "a salutary and tragic lesson" for the company.

The difficulty arose from the lack of segregation of vehicles and pedestrian at the time, he said.

(*) An inquest jury previously returned a verdict of accidental death.