AN Oxfordshire stone works company, where an employee was struck by a five-tonne saw, will pay out £30,000.

Two firms had both gone on trial denying health and safety failings after a worker was hit by the toppling machinery on site.

After two hours and 52 minutes of deliberations jurors at Oxford Crown Court found Stoneworld Oxfordshire and G J Harris Engineering Services guilty in February.

Today at the same court a judge fined Stoneworld £10,000 and ordered that £20,000 be paid back in court costs for the failing.

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Harris was also set to be sentenced but could not attend the virtual hearing due to technical problems and will be sentenced next week.

During the case prosecutors said that Stoneworld had purchased and wanted to install the five-tonne Pellegrini wire cut saw at its Great Milton site.

The company - which create various interior & exterior stone-made works - contracted another firm G J Harris Engineering Services to install the equipment.

On November 9 2016 while the machinery was being installed, an employee of Stoneworld - Andrew Caffyn - was walking by on his lunch break.

As he did so and while contractor Gerald Harris worked on the large equipment it began to topple, before striking Mr Caffyn, injuring him.

Recalling the incident to jurors he said: "I carried on walking and the next thing I knew Mr Harris shouted and through instinct I stopped and turned around and then the machine hit me."

He said he was not pinned and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Mr Caffyn suffered a broken arm that required an operation, as well as a broken knee and broken wrist.

Prosecutors said that the risks involved in the installation of the machinery were 'significant and foreseeable.'

It was also revealed that the saw had hit Harris's parked car which thereby took 'the brunt' of the impact.

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In mitigation at the sentencing hearing Julia Kendrick, defending, said that Mr Caffyn had known that he should stay away from the equipment until it was installed.

She added that financially Stoneworld was going through 'difficult times' in the current climate.

Presiding Judge Nigel Daly said that Stoneworld 'didn't take sufficient steps with the protection of their employees.'

He said: "In particular they failed to physically exclude employees from the vicinity of the installation.

"There can be no dispute about the level of harm.

"Obviously if a five-tonne saw falls on somebody it may well kill them.

"It might have done so in this case were it not for the fortunate [positioning] of Mr Harris's car."

Imposing the fine he added that there were numerous employees in the vicinity who 'could have been exposed to the risk of harm.'

Harris will be sentenced for his part in the incident on June 30 at the same court.