The 33-year-old roofer Matthew Ryan fell to his death on 13 March 2024 when he used a tile slate ripper tool to attach a ladder to the side of a St Cyrus house, The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee) reports. 

Ryan’s boss Andrew Kenyon, who is the sole owner of Stonehaven Roofing Services, pled guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to not providing measures to prevent falls and failing to provide a safe environment for workers. 

Kenyon, who is from Stonehaven and is age 39, did not ensure that the work conducted by Ryan and another man was sufficiently planned or risk-assessed.

The conclusion was that the scaffolding should have been used for the job – fitting a skylight to the roof of a property located on Mercury Terrace.

Kenyon said Ryan was as a “hard-working” and “valued employee”.

Fiscal depute Lisa Duffus said to the court that Ryan, who was from St Cyrus, had passed away due to fractures to the skull associated with bleeding from the brain caused by the fall. 

Following the conviction, Ryan’s wife Nicola Pert, paid tribute to her late husband.

Pert said: “The manner of Matt’s death was completely avoidable and robbed me and both our families of a future with a man we all utterly adored.

“It would be wrong to say I am ‘glad’ about anything that has happened around this conviction because, to me, there’s nothing to possibly be glad about.

Pert added: “It is, however, right that justice is done and this early admission of guilt at least spares us additional unnecessary anguish.”

According to defence advocate Gavin Anderson KC Kenyon “apologised unreservedly for this very tragic accident”.

Anderson said Kenyon “extends his sympathy and condolences to Mr Ryan’s family and friends”.

Anderson added: “Mr Kenyon accepts that he failed to discharge his duty as an employer, with regards to the regulations.

“In hindsight, he would have approached matters differently.”

Anderson also said Kenyon was “remorseful” for what had happened to Ryan and “accepts that the job should have been risk-assessed in advance”.

Sheriff Craig Findlater fined the roofing boss £15,050.