A CARPENTER has told of the moment he saw his workmate fall through a void at building site.

Andrew Cooper began to cry as he described to Lewes Crown Court this morning of the moments leading up to David Clark’s fatal fall in Stanmer Park in September 2014.

Emergency services battled to save the 55-year-old, of Dyke Road Avenue, Hove.

He was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition but died a month later.

Jurors heard how Mr Cooper had worked with Mr Clark – both carpenters with around 30 years’ experience – on a number of occasions and how they had been enlisted by property developer Michael Holland to work on the Stanmer House stable block.

The millionaire was given a long-term lease from Brighton and Hove City Council in 2004 for the nearby 18th century manor house Stanmer House and spent £5 million transforming it into a restaurant and wedding venue.

He was given planning permission to convert the stable block into seven two-bedroom houses and one two-bedroom flat in January 2014.

Mr Cooper told the court he and Mr Clark had been carrying a heavy metal frame along ceiling joists of the first floor of the stable.

Mr Clark stepped onto a piece of scaffolding board which he had placed over an open void where a stairway was due to be built.

Then Mr Cooper said he heard a “crack”.

Giving evidence on the stand he said: “I saw him fall through the opening.

“He didn’t say anything. I don’t think he had time to do anything, it was a split second.

“I was obviously shocked. Initially I ran to the edge and looked down and could see him lying on the floor.

“He was flat on his back and not moving. Then I went down to see him.

“I ran back to the ladder and Josh Brough [another carpenter working on the level above the pair at the time of the incident] shouted to me ‘Andy, I think he’s dead.’”

As he wiped away tears, the court room fell silent and some of those present were visibly moved by his testimony. He told how he performed CPR on Mr Clark with the guidance of the 999 operator on the phone until paramedics arrived.

Holland, 69, of King’s Road, Brighton, and his site foreman Grant Oakes, 46, of Elm Drive, Hove, are standing trial accused of his manslaughter which they both deny.

Oakes also denies failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety Act 1974.

Holland and his company Cherrywood Investments admitted culpability for two other offences under health and safety laws in the case, jurors were told.

The businessman pleaded guilty to consenting to or conniving in a failure to discharge his duty attributable to neglect. The company - now known as Threadneedle Estates - also admitted responsibility for failure to discharge a duty.

Holland, the proprietor of The British Engineerium museum in The Droveway, Hove, is also a director at luxury tailors Gresham Blake, Hickstead-based construction machinery hire company Facelift GB and estate agents Thornton Properties in Rustington.

Jurors were asked if they had any connections with the companies or the Health and Safety Executive before being selected and sworn in to try the case.

The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.