A construction company that has since collapsed into administration has been fined £42,000 after pleading guilty to safety failings that led to the death of a 19-year-old scaffolding labourer who fell through a ventilation shaft covering on a London rooftop.
Renols Lleshi, from Ilford, died in July 2023 while dismantling scaffolding on a roof garden on the 12th floor of a residential block at the Ark Soane Academy development site on Mill Hill Road. He stepped onto what appeared to be a covered ventilation shaft, but the covering — made of nothing more than plasterboard and roofing foam — gave way beneath him. He fell six storeys and died at the scene.
Jerram Falkus Construction Ltd admitted at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 18 March to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. In addition to the £42,000 fine, the company was ordered to pay £5,000 in costs and a £2,000 surcharge.
The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation found that standard building inspections had failed to cover the roof garden area, meaning the dangerous shaft covering was never identified and the scaffolding crew working in that space received no warning about the hazard. Lleshi had been employed by Embassy Site Services Ltd, a Purfleet-based subcontractor engaged by Jerram Falkus Construction.
HSE inspector Natalie Prince said the incident was “wholly avoidable” and highlighted falls from height as one of the leading causes of fatalities and serious injuries across the construction industry.
Lleshi’s father paid tribute to the HSE’s efforts while making clear that no legal outcome could ease the family’s suffering. “My family and I are devastated by the loss of Renols,” he said. “To know that his death was caused by an accident which was entirely avoidable only makes our loss even harder to cope with. Nothing anybody can do can bring our loved one back or lessen our grief in any way.”
Jerram Falkus Construction entered administration in February, with FRP Advisory appointed to manage the process. The firm had been a long-established family-owned business operating across London and the South East, primarily working with local authorities and housing associations. Its final audited accounts for the year ending July 2024 showed a turnover of £47.6 million and pre-tax profits of £37,000.
