Barristers in the trial of a man accused of employing migrant workers on a dangerous Bradford building site have been making their final submissions to the jury.
Shah Nawaz Pola, 35, is accused of employing Slovakian Dusan Dudi to work on a three-storey extension being added to a house on Allerton Road.
Mr Dudi suffered life-threatening injuries when he was hit on the head by a falling stone lintel whist demolishing a wall from a temporary platform.
Today Pola's barrister Paul Greaney conceded that conditions on the site were unsafe but argued that Mr Pola was not responsible for the Slovakians.
He told the jury that the workers could not be considered employees in the eyes of the law because they were under no obligation to work and added that Mr Pola was not their employer.
He said: "In the circumstances I do suggest to you that even if you are satisfied that the Slovakians were employees you cannot be sure that the man in the dock and not Mr Shah was their employer."
Pola has claimed throughout the trial that he had asked another man, Sajid Shah, to be the main contractor and take care of the works.
The defendant is charged with breaches of the Health and Safety Act and also contravening prohibition notices which banned work on the site after the accident in November 2005.
But Mr Greaney said that another man, Mr Singh, was in charge of the site when the first order was breached. A second notice was later breached by work being done on the roof but Mr Greaney told the jury that Mr Pola had specifically told the roofers that they could not go onto the site.
The prosecution has alleged that Pola's cost-cutting had led to dangerous conditions on the site and they say that Pola was the man who was in overall charge.
Pola, of Springcliffe Street, Heaton has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces.
The jurors are expected to retire and consider their verdicts tomorrow.
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 The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.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