The widow of a worker killed when he was crushed under a forklift truck told a court he lived to help other people.
Robert Ambrose died a few days after the vehicle he was operating at work yard in Wavertree overturned after being caught by a HGV.
Mr Ambrose wasn’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident on November 15, 2018 and was thrown out of the vehicle before it fell on top of him.
READ MORE: Worker crushed under forklift truck after safety failings
His employers were fined just under £100,000 on Friday after a Liverpool Council investigation found there were no rules for workers on the wearing of seatbelts when operating forklift trucks.
Mr Ambrose’s wife, Elizabeth, told Wirral Magistrates’ Court that seeing the 62-year-old in hospital after the accident “was like something out of a horror film”.
Doctors amputated Mr Ambrose’s leg in an attempt to save him but the severity of his injuries and the blood loss he suffered meant he never regained consciousness.
In a moving statement to the court, Mrs Ambrose described her husband as a generous and kind individual whose main concern in life was helping others in his community.
Mrs Ambrose said: “My lovely husband was the nicest person you could ever meet.
“He was thoughtful, helpful, kind and hardworking.
“I miss him every day.”
She said Mr Ambrose frequently baked for his local church, volunteered for the Dogs’ Trust and was even recognised as one of Liverpool’s most regular blood donors.
Mrs Ambrose told District Judge James Hatton her husband was “completely selfless, he always wanted to help other people”.
Mr and Mrs Ambrose had been together for 20 years, having met in a pub, and had been planning the rest of their lives together at the time of Mr Ambrose’s death.
She said the couple had planned to travel when he retired, a milestone he was set to reach this March.
One of their first trips was set to be to New Zealand to see Mr Ambrose’s brother.
She said she still struggled to process that her husband died the way he did and said she could not believe Chestnut Building Centres, the company he had worked for for 40 years, had allowed such a breach of safety regulations.
The company’s owners said they took full responsibility for the breach of safety rules and paid tribute to Mr Ambrose, who they said viewed as an extended member of the family.
The company was fined £94,500 and will have to pay £66,025 to cover the costs of the prosecution and the council investigation.
