A man accused of breaching health and safety laws on a building site where a serious accident left a migrant worker permanently disabled has denied that he was in charge.
Shah Nawaz Pola, 35, told a jury at Bradford Crown Court that another man had been responsible for the workers on the site at Allerton Road.
Pola told the jury that he did not have any building expertise so had employed Sajid Shah to oversee the building of a three-storey extension.
He was asked by his barrister Paul Greaney: "Did you regard yourself as being in charge?" "No," Pola replied.
"Did you regard the Slovakian workers as your employees?" said Mr Greaney. "No," Pola said again. "How could they be my employees if the contract was with Mr Shah?"
The trial has been told Slovakian worker Dusan Dudi was left with what were thought to be non-survivable injuries when he was hit on the head by a falling stone lintel in November 2005.
He had been demolishing a wall from a temporary platform when the accident happened. The court was told that when his life support machine was turned off he carried on breathing against all the odds. He has since been discharged although he has been left with permanent injuries.
Pola, of Springcliffe Street, Heaton, is charged with breaching health and safety laws and two breaches of a prohibition notice.
Before he began his evidence Judge Peter Benson ordered the jury to return a not guilty verdict on one alleged breach of the Health and Safety Act.
Pola told the court that it was Mr Shah who had first chosen the Slovakian workers and who had been paying them.
The defendant, who spent some time in Lynfield Mount Hospital after a road accident, added that his family had bought the house and had put him in charge of the project. But he said that he had employed Mr Shah to carry out the building work.
Prosecutor Simon Jackson QC has told the trial Pola's cost-cutting led to the dangerous conditions on the site.
Health and safety inspector Annette Wingate said that she was "horrified" when she visited the site. "Health and safety standards were awful in my opinion," she told the court. Mrs Wingate has said Pola told her "if they fall and something happens to them it's nothing to do with me".
But the defendant claimed his comment had been taken out of context and added that Mrs Wingate had been rude and was abusing her power. Mr Greaney asked him: "Did you intend to suggest that you did not care about workers on the site?" "Why would I not care?" Pola replied.
The trial continues.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article