Paula Palmer (left), her son Brook Palmer and family support person Tracy Manning outside the Nelson District Court today. Photo / Tracy Neal
Paula Palmer (left), her son Brook Palmer and family support person Tracy Manning outside the Nelson District Court today. Photo / Tracy Neal
One of two men who lied about a workplace accident that occurred a week before a similar accident left a worker with brain damage has been sentenced to nine months in prison.
The victim’s mother Paula Palmer shed tears in court and supporters appeared stunned as Judge David Ruth sentencedWilliam Mansfield Trevor Sullivan to prison.
Judge Ruth described the actions of the former health and safety manager of Nelson-based marine engineering firm Aimex as an “outrageous dereliction of duty”.
Sullivan was initially charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice following a police investigation into the company’s mishandling of a workplace incident.
Known as Bill, Sullivan initially denied intentionally misleading WorkSafe investigators but in March this year, he pleaded guilty to an amended single charge of making a false statement.
It didn’t prevent him from going to prison today, but his lawyer Marcus Zintl said he planned to appeal and apply for bail pending an appeal.
Aimex managing director Steven Patrick John Sullivan was to be sentenced today on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, but sentencing was adjourned until next week when his lawyer was unable to make it to Nelson due to weather.
The former health and safety manager of marine engineering firm Aimex was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on charges related to lying about a workplace accident. Photo / Tracy Neal
The charges arose from evidence that came to light about a workplace incident that occurred days before a similar accident on July 29, 2019, that left a young employee brain-damaged after he was found unconscious in the hull of a boat.
The worker, later revealed by NZME as employee Brook Palmer, was overcome by toxic fumes while using a brake cleaner in the engine bay.
He was found by a colleague, unconscious at the bottom of the boat.
Palmer recently broke his silence on the devastating brain injury he suffered as a result.
For this, Aimex was sentenced in July 2021. It received a fine of $250,000 and was ordered to pay $65,000 in reparation and $1434 in costs after admitting a charge under sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Brook Palmer was in court for today’s sentencing, flanked by his mother Paula Palmer and family support person Tracy Manning who read Brook’s victim impact statement to the court.
Brook Palmer, known as "Employee A" in court documents, has struggled to make headway after being left with a long-term brain injury following a workplace accident in July 2019. Photo / Tessa Jaine / TopSouthMedia
The statement revealed that of the many emotions Brook felt since the accident, the one that stood out was anger, not only toward the men responsible for not taking action but the company as a whole.
“If they had done the right thing I would not have this life-changing brain injury.”
Brook also thanked the colleague who found him.
“This company would have taken my life at age 19 if not for that friend.”
Judge Ruth said the accident that left Brook Palmer with life-changing injuries was “entirely preventable”.
“This man has been damaged for the rest of his life because you didn’t abide by your obligations.”
He said a strong message needed to be sent that Sullivan had to be held accountable. From a starting point of 12 months in prison, and factoring in the lack of premises from where he could serve a sentence of home detention, the sentence was reduced to nine months’ jail.
Paula Palmer said in a damning victim impact statement to the court, that Aimex had “stolen her son’s aspirations” through an accident she believed was preventable.
She was grateful the truth had come to light after several years, through the courage and integrity of former senior manager Martin Byrne who “did what was right” by coming forward once he knew what had happened.
The Crown described Byrne as a “case study in doing what’s right”.
Palmer told NZME outside court today she felt like they had finally been heard.
The first accident
It was during the investigation into Brook’s accident that WorkSafe became aware of the earlier similar incident involving another employee, Employee X, which occurred on July 24, 2019.
The worker had been cleaning the engine room of the same vessel with brake cleaner when he became overcome with fumes, but recognised the symptoms and was able to get himself out of the situation immediately.
During the investigation into the incident involving Palmer, Employee X told WorkSafe about his close call and that he recorded the incident on his timesheet for that day and had notified William Sullivan, who created an incident report.
But despite repeated requests from WorkSafe for records, including the incident form the worker insisted had been lodged, William Sullivan denied any knowledge of Employee X’s incident.
WorkSafe was ultimately unable to prove Employee X’s incident when it prosecuted Aimex in 2021.
The Crown later argued the company was given a lesser penalty at its 2021 sentencing than what it might have, had the full facts been known.
Crown prosecutor Jackson Webber said today that essentially the court was ignorant then of the true picture.
“It’s clear that the judge’s lack of appreciation for the true situation factored heavily into the sentencing band.”
He said William Sullivan had played a lesser part in what happened but was acutely aware of the risk to others, and being aware of what had happened to Employee X he’d “kept his mouth shut” until much later.
The police investigation
The evidence that led to the charges came to light following a police investigation, sparked by a senior manager contracted in January 2021 to conduct a review of the company.
The man, known as “Mr B”, and later revealed as former Port Nelson chief executive Martin Byrne, became aware of the incident involving Employee X during preparation for the sentencing for the matter involving Brook Palmer.
Steve Sullivan told Byrne he had found no record of the incident ever occurring, the summary of facts said.
He maintained Employee X had not filed a report, despite knowing he had, and that it had been “destroyed by an employee of the company during the WorkSafe investigation”.
Byrne became aware of a “number of concerning circumstances around the destruction of the Employee X incident report and actions taken intending to cover up the incident in order not to disclose the matter to WorkSafe NZ”.
"Whistleblower" Martin Bryne and Paula Palmer outside court today. She credits him with having uncovered the truth about what happened. Photo / Tracy Neal
William Sullivan then confirmed that Employee X had reported the incident to him and that he had filled out an incident report, and also admitted he had not told WorkSafe about the matter when interviewed even though he knew about it.
Byrne left the company in July 2021, and on legal advice he submitted a Protected Disclosure Statement to WorkSafe, recording his inquiries and admissions made to him.
The following month, police launched an investigation and in November 2021, WorkSafe received a letter from Aimex’s lawyer alerting it to a “prior incident report” which had not been disclosed because it had been destroyed during the investigation.
A police search in December 2021 of the home of a former company employee, who did not face charges, turned up a copy of Employee X’s incident report that he had saved.
The police also searched the Aimex head office at Port Nelson and seized original documents related to the employment record of Employee X.
Bryne told NZME outside court he was pleased with today’s decision, and that the judge had noted the severity of what had occurred.
“I’m also relieved for Brook and his family that at least today’s sentencing is over.”
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
