Families of two workers ‘cooked to death’ in a bread oven haven’t received a PENNY in compensation 27 years later

THE families of two workers who were “cooked to death” in a bread oven say they haven't received any compensation 27 years later.

David Mayes, 47, and Ian Erickson, 44, died after entering the oven for repairs at the Harvestime factory in Leicester went horribly wrong.

The pair sent terrified messages on a radio to their colleagues within five minutes of going into the oven back in May 1998.

David and Ian had entered the oven only two hours after it had been switched off and all they were wearing for protection were all-in-one suits.

Their only chance of escape was to pass through the machine on a conveyor belt in temperatures of 100C (212F).

Ian, of Walsall, West Midlands, managed to scramble free but was terribly burnt and died on the factory floor.

David, of Rushey Mead, Leicestershire, was caught in machinery inside the oven and died from crush injuries and heat exposure – his body was recovered by firemen.

In 2001, Fresha Bakeries, its trading arm Harvestime Ltd and three directors were ordered to pay more than £500,000 made up of fines and costs.

However, the court heard that there was no legal entitlement to compensation and the firm was not ordered to give them anything.

But 27 years on from the tragedy, relatives of the two doomed men are still fuming that they received no compensation.

Re-living the nightmare this week, David's brother-in-law Keith Harris told MailOnline: “It is still very raw after all these years.

“David's family didn't get a penny in compensation. He was entitled to nothing.

“If you die at work in an accident the company has to pay for a funeral but they only paid for a basic one and wouldn't pay for a headstone.”

David's family also said his loved ones had been treated with contempt even after their deaths.

And Keith said that the family wanted manslaughter charges to be brought against the company.

He added: “If you die at work in an accident the company has to pay for a funeral but they only paid for a basic one and wouldn't pay for a headstone.”

At an trial in 2001, Anthony Barker QC, prosecuting, said: “The oven was normally set to run at 260C. It had only been turned off for two hours and the centre was 100C when these two men went inside.

“No-one, it seemed, looked at the temperature gauge at the side of the oven which would have indicated it wasn't safe to go in.

“Those men went in when it was hot enough to boil water, in such circumstances where serious injury or death was inevitable.”

David and Ian were called in after a grid on the cover belt of the bakery's massive oven – which carried bread trays slowly through – had dislodged and fallen to the bottom.

Their task was to recover it and put it back in place which involved climbing inside, heard Leicester Crown Court.

Ian, had taken a radio with him and after a few minutes inside sent a panicky message saying it was too hot.

There was no way of reversing the belt and the pair were trapped on its journey through the oven.

It took 17 minutes – the time it took for the conveyor to pass through the oven – before other workers could help the men.

TRAGIC END

It emerged during the trial at Leicester Crown Court in July 2001 that bosses should have left the oven – which baked bread at temperatures of 260C – to cool down for 12 hours before allowing the work to be undertaken.

But David and Ian were sent in just two hours after the oven had been switched off by greedy bosses

“They were trapped. There was no system of reversing the conveyor and no system of getting them out of the oven,” said Mr Barker.

The company would have lost £1,120 for every hour the oven was shut down.

However, David and Ian were unaware of the danger as they crawled into the oven because fans had cooled its outer reaches to 40C.

Three executives, Fresha Bakeries and the firm's owners, Harvestime, admitted health and safety offences.

Fresha was fined £250,000 with £175,000 costs and Harvestime was fined £100,000 with £75,000 costs.

Three men were fined a total of £23,000 with £5,000 costs.

John Bridson, of Hale, the managing director of Fresha Limited, the company which owns the bakery, admitted two charges of failing to provide a safe system of work.

The production director, Brian Jones, of Hertford, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to a single count of the same offence.

The chief engineer, Dennis Masters, of Mountsorrel, admitted one charge of failing to take reasonable care for others at work.