'Gentle giant' crushed to death under 1,000-tonne piston after employer 'made things up as they went along'

A 'gentle giant' was crushed to death under a 1,000 ton hydraulic press after a health and safety breach by his employer - which has now been fined more than half a million pounds.

Colin Willoughby, 52, was known as the 'go-to guy for tricky engineering problems,' in his role at Graham Engineering Ltd in Nelson, Lancashire, a court heard.

But on May 21, 2018, the popular engineer was killed instantly when a piston came loose, crushing him to death as he worked underneath the press, Lancs Live reports.

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Before setting to work beneath the equipment, Mr Willoughby and his colleagues had been given a 'tool-box talk' but no formal risk assessment had been carried out, Judge Philip Parry said.

At Preston Crown Court, Graham Engineering Ltd was ordered to pay £645,487.82 after being found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company's director, Stuart Frazer, was cleared of the same charge - however he appeared at court to represent the company at a sentence hearing.

Judge Parry said Graham Engineering acquired the Hugh Smith 1,000 press from a company in Ipswich in 2015. It was inspected by a man named Peter Egan, who concluded it was in poor condition. In order for the machinery to be put back into work, the piston would need to be removed and re-chromed, Mr Egan said.

The press remained at the site, but in 2017, Graham Engineering secured a large contract with Siemens to make components for MRI scanners. Mr Frazer thought the Hugh Smith press would be ideal for the job, however it would need to be moved and inspected.

Mr Egan recommended the firm used specialist lifting equipment as the press was extremely heavy and an unusual