Bournemouth recovery driver given suspended sentence after Range Rover crush

A Bournemouth recovery driver has been given a suspended prison sentence after an unsecured Range Rover rolled down a hill, injuring him and crushing a passer-by who tried to help.

Sean Baker, who worked for GRS Recovery Bournemouth, was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison, suspended for a year, at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday. He had pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The incident happened on Exeter Crescent on 22 March 2024. CCTV showed the two-tonne vehicle rolling during a recovery operation, with Baker caught by a rear wheel.

Kai Dransfield, who was on a break from his job at TGI Fridays, saw Baker trapped and went to help. “He made eye contact with me, and my first thought was to just grab him to try and help him,” he said. The vehicle struck Dransfield and ran over both his legs.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Dransfield suffered multiple broken bones in his legs and fractures to his spine. More than two years later, he continues to experience chronic pain and has difficulty walking.

An HSE investigation found Baker first attached a winch to the Range Rover, which would have stopped it rolling if the handbrake was released or failed. He later removed the winch, raised the vehicle and placed skates beneath its rear wheels. The wheels were not chocked and no breakaway cables were attached, leaving the vehicle free to roll backwards when lowered, the HSE said.

The regulator concluded that Baker failed to follow established recovery procedures and did not take reasonable care for his own safety or others’. HSE inspector Alexander Ashen said failing to secure a vehicle weighing more than two tonnes on a steep hill was “a fundamental error”, and that the incident exposed people nearby to risk.