Company boss loses appeal over conviction (From Thisisdorset)

Company boss loses appeal over conviction

7:00pm Monday 6th July 2009 in

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A POOLE company boss jailed last year for perverting the course of justice has seen an appeal against his conviction turned down.

David Matthews, director of Reliance Scrap Metal on the Nuffield Industrial Estate, was handed a three-year sentence after trying to cover up the circumstances surrounding a huge explosion that killed employee Tommy Mooney.

He was granted leave to appeal but his sentence was upheld.

Matthews also suffered horrific burns in the 2005 blast, caused by an attempt to shear up cylinders of volatile acetylene gas, and spent many months in hospital.

His grounds for appeal centred on his injuries and a previous unblemished health and safety record at Reliance.

He also claimed the cover-up was begun by Michael Anderson and David Lomas – both also jailed for perverting the course of justice last year – while he was still in hospital.

For an appeal to be successful it must show the sentence was “manifestly excessive or wrong in principle” and it was turned down on these grounds.

Anderson also applied for leave to appeal in 2007, but never went through with a hearing so his leave has now expired.

It means the legal proceedings surrounding the explosion and the death of Mr Mooney have finally ended almost two years after they first began.

The first trial was aborted when crucial new evidence came to light, prompting the perverting the course of justice charges, and the second trial rumbled on for two months.

Matthews and his company were eventually cleared of the manslaughter of Mr Mooney, but the Reliance trio were all found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

The cover-up and necessary re-trial pushed the costs of investigating and prosecuting the case over £500,000.