Aberdeen roofing company fined after 'adored' husband fell to his death

An Aberdeen roofing company has been fined after an employee fell to his death.

Matthew Ryan was working as a roofer for Stonehaven Roofing Services (SRS) at a property in the village of St Cyrus near Montrose in March 2024.

Whilst carrying out work, he fell and suffered a fatal head injury.

The Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation, and concluded the company had breached guidelines which contributed to the incident.

The director of SRS, Andrew Kenyon, pleaded guilty to the breaches at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in July this year and was fined £20,000, reduced to £15,050 due to his earlier plea.

Nicola Pert, who had been with Matthew for 12 years and married for five years, described the roofer as being “utterly adored”.

She said: “Matt and I spent nearly half our lives together as partners and best friends, and his loss is something I don’t think I’ll ever fully come to terms with.

“He was hard-working, funny, reliable and a motoring enthusiast and I’ll miss travelling with him all over the UK for random, fun days out – we really did everything together and I will sincerely cherish the memories of our time together.

“The manner of Matt’s death was completely avoidable and robbed me and both our families of a future with a man we all utterly adored.

“It would be wrong to say I am ‘glad’ about anything that has happened around this conviction because, to me, there’s nothing to possibly be glad about.

“It is however right that justice is done and this early admission of guilt at least spares us additional unnecessary anguish.”

Digby Brown is now assisting Nicola and Matthew’s wider family with a fatal accident claim against SRS.