Mechanic has to learn to walk again after teen apprentice runs him over while in garage MoT pit
Firm fined £120,000 after health and safety failure that left father of four in excruciating pain
A MECHANIC has had to learn to walk again after he suffered horror injuries when a teenage apprentice ran over him while he was in a garage MoT pit.
Father of four Stuart Currey, 28, was left in excruciating pain when he was dragged under the wheels of a Ford Transit van.
Stuart was dragged for around 10 metres before the teenager stopped the vehicle when heard his cries for help.
After colleagues used a jack to lift the vehicle off him he was airlifted to hospital with fractures to his right shoulder, pelvis, spine, hip and ribs.
He said his injuries were so severe that he has been unable to play with his four daughters since the incident and almost two years later he has been unable to return to work.
He now needs to use a wheelchair or crutches and has been left with one leg shorter than the other.
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Preston Crown Court heard it was customary at the garage for employees to drive over the MoT pits when colleagues were in them - and those colleagues would duck down as vehicles drove over them.
After admitting breaching the Health and Safety at Work act 1974, Stuart's bosses at Pye Motors were fined £120,000 with £9,209 costs.
Stuart, from Morecambe, Lancs, who lives with wife Natasha, 33, and their daughters Vanessa, six, Carly, five, Ellie, two, and Tianna, who is seven months old, previously told of the hell he had been through, saying: "It has been a nightmare time for me and the family. I was in hospital for nearly five weeks and missed Christmas.
''Even now I suffer. One of my legs is now shorter than the other and I will probably always be on pain medication for my back.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to work as a mechanic again. My life has completely changed."
Stuart said his life has been transformed since the incident in November 2014. He added: "I was in the pit tidying up when I saw the van coming towards me. I tried to get out of the way and was shouting for him to stop but it hit me and dragged me under.
"I was screaming 'I can't breathe'. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced.
"I honestly thought I was going to die. Luckily the lads got the van off me and I was taken to hospital.''
"What has happened to me has been difficult to take and is something I'm still struggling to come to terms with. I'm still in pain every day, even though things are improving, and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else.
"My life was turned upside down that day and I now know that the injuries I suffered mean I will probably not be able to return to the job I love. The injuries I suffered have had a huge impact on my family too, particularly my daughters.
"It was very difficult for them to see me in so much pain and I have struggled to do things with my younger children that I was able to do in the past.
"I'm glad Pye Motors has pleaded guilty to the charges brought by the HSE and hope that this is the first step to drawing a line under this traumatic time and that it will allow me to start rebuilding my life and focusing all my efforts on my recovery."
Passing sentence, Judge Robert Altham said: "Mr Currey describes in a statement he was struggling to breathe and feared there and then he would die.
"Despite there being a clear risk of working in and around pits, there was no risk assessment addressing that risk whatsoever. Another employee indicated it became customary to drive over the pits when people were in them. The procedure was people would simply duck down as vehicles drove over.
"The defendant company has now implemented procedures to address the risks posed. This was a life-altering incident for Mr Currey and his immediate family."
Defending the firm, which has a £34m turnover but has pension liabilities, Keith Morton said officials at the company were "mortified" about the accident.
But Stuart's lawyer Matt Garson, a specialist serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell's Manchester office said: "The HSE prosecution has been a significant milestone for Stuart and Natasha and they are understandably relieved that Pye Motors has pleaded guilty to the charges outlined by the HSE following its investigation into this terrible incident.
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