An ex-NSW Nationals chairman who failed to notify a workplace safety regulator after a labourer on his farm was seriously injured lied to the man's family after the incident, a court has heard.
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Bede Burke, 63, faced a District Court sentence hearing on Monday after previously pleading guilty to three charges linked to the incident on the egg farm near Tamworth on January 15, 2020.
Labourer Desmond Saunders was trying to repair a manure conveyor while standing on a forklift and pallet when his hand was sliced and a finger fractured after being caught on a moving belt, according to court documents previously seen by AAP.
Burke has admitted failing to ensure the site of a notifiable incident was not disturbed, failing to ensure that the regulator was notified immediately, and failing to comply with health and safety duty, risking death or serious injury.
On Monday, crown prosecutor Matthew Moir argued Burke failed to be candid after the incident as part of an incorrect story supplied to the Saunders' family.
Mr Moir submitted that Burke "told a lie" when he said to a relative of Saunders that he did not see the injured labourer before he went to hospital.
"Mr Burke did see Mr Saunders and did see the injury," Mr Moir told the court.
The barrister argued this was a "step in the narrative" told to Mr Saunders and his family that was not a full and accurate "picture" of what occurred.
"That goes to fundamentally his credit on the issues in dispute," Mr Moir said.
Ultimately, it was left up to the family of Mr Saunders to notify SafeWork NSW about the injury, the court heard.
Mr Saunders' son, David Saunders, rejected a suggestion from defence barrister Martin Shume that Burke did not tell him he did not see the injured labourer.
"That's incorrect," the witness said.
The victim's son under cross-examination also maintained that Burke said his father was on a ladder when the injury happened.
According to court documents, Mr Saunders was standing on the elevated pallet and exposed to entanglement, pinch and shear hazards within the machinery at the time.
"He (Burke) did say he was on a ladder," the witness said.
Mr Saunders required multiple surgeries and was left with a permanent impairment of his left hand, court documents stated. He has since died.
There was no safe system to isolate the conveyor during repairs or maintenance, the agreed facts state.
In March, charges against Burke's wife Narelle Burke were dropped in exchange for her husband's guilty pleas.
The court heard on Monday that Burke is seeking to have the entered pleas dealt with under a "section 10" order. It allows an offender to be found guilty of an offence without a conviction being recorded.
The hearing continues on Tuesday.
Australian Associated Press
