The company which employed a teenager who died at a Perth worksite almost five years ago has been found guilty of failing to provide a safe workplace while its sole director is facing serious drug charges in New Zealand.
Key points:
- Wesley Ballantine died after falling through a roof at a Perth construction site
- Industrial Construction Services is found guilty of failing to provide a safe workplace
- Seperate charges against the company’s director can’t be heard until March 2022
Wesley Ballantine died after he fell 12 meres through a void in the roof of an internal atrium at Perth’s old post office building in Forrest Place in January 2017.
The company that employed the 17-year-old, Industrial Construction Services, which was due to go on trial today, had a conviction recorded after it failed to provide legal representation.
Adam Tony Forsyth, a former Olympic boxer and the sole trader of the company, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court via videolink from a prison in New Zealand, where he’s awaiting trial on serious drug charges.
Mr Forsyth told the court he had suffered a “massive head injury” and had “very limited capacity”.
At one point he said he thought he had “sold” the company.
Magistrate Nicholas Lemmon told the court ICS had failed to appoint a lawyer, and had adequate opportunity to do so.
He recorded a conviction, and set down the sentencing hearing for November 25.
Wesley’s mother Regan Ballantine had waited to give evidence at the trial, which is no longer going ahead.
Wesley’s death led her to campaign for stronger workplace safety legislation, which introduced industrial manslaughter as a crime when it passed WA Parliament in 2020.
Industrial Construction Services and Mr Forsyth had been charged under the old laws.
Outside court, Ms Ballantine said the current proceedings were “pointless”.
“What’s the point? Who does that serve?
“These sorts of court cases just hijack your life, there’s no other way to explain it.
“To be able to put a kind of bookend on something which is extremely traumatic is absolutely impossible when there’s matters still before the court”.
The court had heard that Mr Forsyth was in WA when the company was charged in mid-2019 and subsequently went to New Zealand.
Separate charges related to the death of Wesley Ballantine brought against Mr Forsyth and Manager Luke Corderoy as individuals would not be heard until after Mr Forsyth’s trial in New Zealand, due in March 2022.
Industrial Construction Services is facing a penalty in the hundreds of thousands of dollars but Ms Ballantine questioned the value of imposing a fine.
“It certainly doesn’t serve the public, it certainly doesn’t serve me, so it does feel very pointless.”
She said she was glad companies and businesses faced tougher sanctions under the new laws.
