Couple on trial 'deeply shocked' over charge

A MAN accused of failing to provide adequate training to an employee who was crushed to death by a quad bike said he and his wife were “deeply shocked” after initially being charged with manslaughter.

- PHILIP DEWEY

Nicholas Prest and his wife Anthea leaving Cardiff Crown Court last year

(Wales news service)

Nicholas Prest, 71, and his wife Anthea, 70, deny being to blame for the death of groundsman Paul Marsden, 47, at their luxury £2.5m mansion with 15 acres of land in Llandogo, Monmouthshire, in 2020.

Mr Marsden was found dead on April 24, 2020 by a colleague, who had gone searching for Mr Marsden after he failed to return to the house for his usual mid-morning coffee break, and then his lunch break.

A trial at Newport Crown Court was previously told by prosecutor James Puzey that Mr and Mrs Prest failed to do what any employer “would have and should have done” to prevent the tragic incident from happening. This included not providing employees with adequate training and PPE.