THE family of a man who died after falling two storeys to his death have paid tribute to “a real people pleaser”.
Graham Tester, 60, died when he fell from height at a building site at the former Lansdowne Place Hotel in Brunswick Street, Hove, in July 2018 after a ladder was not secured properly.
Mr Tester, of Lewes, was described in court by his family as a “real people pleaser”.
Steven Wenham, 48, of Charlotte Street, Brighton, was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and his company Total Contractors Ltd was convicted of breaking two health and safety laws over the accident at an earlier hearing.
Wenham was jailed for five years for gross negligence manslaughter at Lewes Crown Court on June 7, while John ‘Nick’ Spiller, of Fishergate Close, Portslade, was jailed for 15 months.
In a victim impact statement, described by the Honourable Judge Mark Wall as “very moving”, Sally-Ann Tester, of Peacehaven, said the death of her father had “greatly” affected the family, including her brother and sister, Donia and Ben.
Allan Compton QC, prosecuting, read the statement to the court, in which she said she and her siblings had “lost everything” in the past three years after also losing their mother to cancer last year.
She described her father as “a real people pleaser”, stating, “we should have had lots more years with him”.
She added: “He once told [our mother] this job was going to kill him one day.”
Speaking after sentence was passed, Sally-Ann described the past four years as “horrible”.
“It’s been terrible time,” she said. “It’s been awful today, seeing [the defendants] feeling terrible for what they have done, and them knowing what it means for us.
“There’s no real closure here because no matter what happened in court it can never bring our dad back, but at least we have seen justice today."
The Honourable Judge Mr Justice Mark Wall paid tribute to the family, and commended them for the dignity they displayed throughout the legal proceedings.
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