By Alastair Lockhart For Mailonline

Published: 04:47 EDT, 5 September 2022 | Updated: 09:28 EDT, 5 September 2022

A businessman broke down in tears in court as a jury heard the distressing 999 call made by one of his employees trying to save the life of a man trapped in a tyre shredding machine.

The jury of nine women and three men heard the sound of disc cutters being used to free Martin Simmons, 38, from the newly-installed machine.

Emergency services told staff at Capital Metals in Sling, Gloucestershire to keep Martin Simmons as comfortable as possible until paramedics arrived.

When Mr Simmons appeared to stop breathing, the workers were told to cut him free from the machine and perform CPR.

Mr Simmons was rushed to hospital but suffered severe brain damage after the main artery in his neck was crushed. He died two weeks later. 

His fiancée, Tina Simmons, 'married' him at his hospital bed just days before he died.

Ms Simmons put on her wedding dress for a heart-wrenching ceremony in March 2019, before he husband's life support was turned off. 

Martin Simmons, 38, died after he became trapped in the machine. Proceedings were stopped in court when defendant Kyle Gettings and jury members became visibly upset by the recording of the incident 

Martin Simmons' fiancée and mother made the decision to turn off his life support after doctors told them he would not wake up

Mr Simmons (pictured) had proposed to fiancée Tina (pictured), 35, two years before he died and the pair were due to fly to Cuba for their dream wedding in April 2020

The judge stopped proceedings after the recording of the incident was played at Gloucester Crown Court when defendant Kyle Gettings and jury members became visibly upset.

Mr Gettings, 35, denies unlawfully killing Martin Simmons by gross negligence.

He pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of his employees while working with the machinery. 

Prosecutor Philip Stott told the jury that on February 20, 2019, Mr Simmons had been loading tyres onto the conveyor belt and overseeing shredded tyres as they left the machine on the second conveyor.

Mr Stott said: 'The machinery didn't have any guard rail protection on the second conveyor belt. This is neglect as anybody could easily become trapped within its workings. 

'There was no process to stop this from happening while the machinery was running.'

The jury heard that the day before the incident, a television crew for the 'Scrap Kings' series, had been filming the tyre shredding operation and were shown the video footage of what the employees did when the machinery got jammed.

The film showed the machine and conveyor belt being used without safety guards.

It was alleged that the following day, employees did not turn off the machine when freeing up the jammed conveyor belt, despite being trained to do so by Mr Gettings.

The jury heard evidence from Jack Major, who was working with Mr Simmons at the time of the incident who said he was told to make sure the equipment was switched off before retrieving the debris.

Mr Major said: 'I had to pick large shredded items off the floor all the time and place them on the conveyor belt myself, which didn't have any safety guards on it. I did this because they would quickly become a trip hazard.

'The hopper would frequently jam up and the unit would be turned off to allow us to free up the jammed equipment. It is common sense not to put your hands anywhere near it while it was operational.

Ms Simmons put on her wedding dress for a heart wrenching hospital ceremony just days before her husband's life support was turned off

'It was not my responsibility to turn the machinery on or off. But at around 4pm Mr Simmons was working on the conveyor belt, without it being turned off, while I was undertaking another task with my back to him.

'I turned around when he shouted out loudly "Ouch". He was kneeling down and was in an unnatural position with his shoulder being trapped and his right arm inside the machinery. Mr Simmons' neck was sticking out from under the machine.

'I immediately pressed the emergency stop button, which disables everything in the unit. I ran outside and shouted for somebody to dial 999.

'When other people took over the situation in the unit, I went to get some disc cutters to free Mr Simmons from the machinery, but I was told not to use it.

'Instead I went to the business park's entrance and directed the emergency services where to go.'

General manager Gary King told the jury that he worked an office in temporary buildings outside. 

Mr Simmons' (pictured) colleagues performed CPR while waiting for paramedics, but he suffered devastating brain damage after a major artery was cut off 

He said when he heard somebody yelling 'dial 999', he did so, not aware of what the emergency was.

Mr King said: 'When I heard Mr Major shouting for somebody to ring 999, I did, but didn't know why. 

'I ran the distance of about half a football pitch to get to the unit where I saw Mr Simmons on his knees with his arm trapped between a pulley and the conveyor belt. He didn't say anything.

'At first I was told by the call handler to make sure Mr Simmons was as comfortable as possible and wait for the paramedics to arrive. But when Mr Simmons stopped breathing the decision was taken to free him from the equipment.

'Once he was flat on the floor, I began the CPR procedure on Mr Simmons. I followed the exact directions the call handler was telling me. I continued this procedure until the paramedics took over.'

The jury was told an ambulance crew arrived at the scene at 4.28pm and that by 4.40pm a Great Western Air Ambulance had also landed at the site with a specialist trauma doctor on board. 

Mr Simmons was subsequently flown to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for treatment.

Despite medical intervention, Mr Simmons never recovered from his injuries and he died 15 days later on March 6.

The jury also heard from other employees over the roles that they played immediately following the incident as well as the electricians who installed the equipment.

Electrician Nicholas Barrow said: 'I visited on the day of the incident as I had found a replacement circuit breaker for the equipment the company had recently installed.

'I had gone to the unit to see if the replacement part would fit the machine. When I arrived at the unit, the machinery was in operation and both conveyor belts were running.

'I noticed that the second conveyor belt, which had not been part of the set up when the machine was being commissioned, did not have any safety measures on it.

'I was surprised that the machine was being used without guard rails. It was too noisy to talk to anybody about my concerns and I left after 15 minutes.'

The jury also heard from Michael Raynor from the Health and Safety Executive who visited the site six days after the incident and while Mr Simmons was still alive.

Mr Stott told the jury: 'The prosecution say that the machinery that Mr Simmons was working on was a literal death trap. 

'Due to an incorrect set up of the hopper, the shredder itself, a chute leading from the machine towards the second conveyor belt would frequently get blocked which then had to be freed up by the workers.

'The conveyor belt would also jam up with pieces of tyre. The practice should have been that the machine should have been turned completely off while these tasks were carried out.'

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