Richard James Martell had been at the helm of the British arm of the Dutch export firm Euromin for four years when Simon died.

He had worked in the docking industry for 17 years.

Mr Martell, 59, of Aldingbourne Drive, Crocker Hill, Chichester, said he had inherited the procedures used at the company, which imports material for road construction.

He told the court one of his first tasks had been to appoint a safety officer, implement a staff training programme and ensure safety assessments were carried out.

He said: "I wanted to feel I was doing everything I could correctly because of so many things you hear about today. I thought I was being pro-active.

"From the time I took over, more and more safety legislation came out, increasing year after year."

However, during the trial, Patrick O'Connor, prosecuting, said Mr Martell had created an obvious risk of death or serious bodily harm and, having created that risk, had failed to protect workers against it.

The court heard Mr Martell blamed Simon's death on two things - the shortening of the chains and the accidental closure of the grab.

Mr Martell insisted that but for those factors his system was safe.

He told police he could not have done anything to prevent the accident but, with hindsight, it would have been safer to use the official hook attachment on the excavator.

Euromin's registered address is Battersea Bridge Road, Battersea, London, and its only docking facility was at Shoreham.