Pontllanfraith-based Moulded Paper International, which went into liquidation on 11 December 2008 before its name was changed to Ever 1868, was handed a £5,000 fine and ordered to pay £36,571 in costs following an investigation by the HSE, which found it guilty of breaching Health and Safety regulstions.

Judge Christopher Llewellyn-Jones QC, who handed down the fine, told the court that the fine "should not reflect the seriousness with which he viewed the matter".

On 4 August 2009, Gareth Young, 60, from Beaufort in Ebbw Vale was working at Moulded Paper when an unsecured electrical control cabinet weighing just over half a tonne, fell on him, resulting in fatal injuries.

The HSE investigation found that Mr Young was in the process of removing sheet steel from the disused cabinet for re-use. The cabinet had been propped up against a wall and was unsecured after being left behind by machinery removal men who had visited the factory some months earlier.

The court heard that, during Young’s efforts to remove the sheet steel, the cabinet slid away from the wall, crushing him underneath.

The HSE found Moulded Paper had failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees.

HSE inspector, Trevor Hay said:  "This was a tragic death that could have so easily been prevented. This fatality shows the importance of carrying out thorough risk assessments of the working environment, especially following any major changes.

"A competent risk assessment would have revealed the instability of the electrical control cabinet that fell on Mr. Young and the need for it to be secured to prevent it from falling."