Scottish masonry company Stirling Stone Ltd have been fined £200,000 following the death of an employee who fell from scaffolding in Glasgow.

Stirling Stone and the company they were working for, Robertson Construction Central Ltd, who were also fined £200,000, were convicted at Glasgow Sheriff’s Court on 11 March, but Sheriff Cathcart deferred sentence until 7 April.

James Kelly was working on the third level of a loading tower of independent access scaffolding on 26 April 2007 when he fell and sustained injuries from which he died.

Elaine Taylor, Head of the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Health & Safety Division, said after the conviction: “On 26 April 2007 James Kelly went to work and as a result of failings by his employer and the principal contractor on site, he never returned home. He left a family devastated by their loss.”

HSE Principal Inspector Iain Brodie said: “Where building materials are to be transferred into loading towers on scaffolding there should be a realistic safe system of work for workers to follow. They should be given information, instruction, training, and be adequately supervised. If these companies had taken these steps, then James Kelly might be alive today.”