A construction equipment hire company was ordered to pay £100,000 for an accident which left a crane operator dangling above a hotel for several hours.

John Young’s crane cab crashed into the top of the Croydon Park hotel at 2pm on Saturday, June 3, 2007 because the cab wasn’t adequately secured, a court heard.

At the Old Bailey today Select Plant Hire Ltd were fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £33,000 in costs pleading guilty to breaching health and safety regulations.

The company failed to provide the necessary training for the erection team in charge of the crane as well as carrying out a thorough examination after the cranes assembly before it was put to use.

Mr Young was left dangling from the top of the hotel in his cab for several hours while emergency services tried to rescue him and two colleagues.

Watch our video shot at the scene

Mr Young, a father of two from East Sussex, suffered from three compression fractures to the spine, two broken ribs, a fractured lumbar, a fractured skull, bruises and cuts to his entire body and now sufferers from post traumatic stress disorder.

Speaking at court Mr Young said: “I haven't got a life because of this, my life is on hold, it is just a series of hospital appointments and physiotherapy.

“I thought I was going to die. When the crane started going backwards I said goodbye to my wife and kids and thought that was going to be it.”

Two days after the accident it was Mr Young's son's birthday which had to be put on hold until his father was better.

He said: “My kids didn't know what to do with me when I got home. I was covered in bruises, my face had swelled up where I had fractured my skull, it was horrible. My son's birthday was two days after the accident but that had to be cancelled because I was in hospital for six days having surgery.

"Even worse was when the ambulance started to drive away from the site and it reversed up a 12 inch curb."

The court also heard how the accident caused the Croydon Park hotel to lose £2m in lost revenue, and repair costs for the damage caused totalled more that £2.8m.

The court was told the crane was not adequately secured, leaving workers at risk.

Prosecutor, Oliver Glasgow QC, said: “Only gravity was keeping them safe and any pressure in any direction would cause it (the crane cab) to fall off.

“No one thought to address how the crane was being held in place.”

Judge Anthony Morris QC said: “I don't understand how this could ever be used as a safe way of working.

“I am trying to work out how it could ever be conceived that this would work.”

After the verdict Mr Young said: “The verdict shows they can’t muck about with health and safety. It is not worth the lives that can be lost.”

• What do you think? Let us know by email here, phone the newsdesk on 020 8330 9555 or leave a comment below.