A London contractor has been given a suspended prison sentence after risking the lives of workers and ignoring action taken by Britain’s workplace regulator.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ordered Mohammed Mehdi Ali to stop working at a construction site in Willesden on 7 September 2018. Inspectors visited the Willesden Lane site and found unplanned, unsupervised and unsafe work was putting people at serious risk of injury.
Workers had been identified working on the roof area where they were at serious risk of falling from a height as no measures to protect them were in place. Unplanned and unsafe demolition work had also left the building structure at risk of collapse.
Despite the prohibition notice being served against him, Mr Ali ignored it and the work continued as before, putting the lives of those working on the site at risk. Mr Ali, of Barn Hill in Wembley, also failed to turn up at court to face justice in 2021 and as a result a warrant was issued for his arrest. It was only thanks to intelligence from the local community that the police arrested him and the court proceedings could finally resume. He has now been given a suspended 20-week custodial sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Not only did the HSE investigation find that Mr Ali disregarded the prohibition notice, but also that he failed to put in place measures to ensure the health and safety of people at his construction site.
Mr Ali pleaded guilty to committing an offence under s33(1)(g) of HSWA by breaching a prohibition notice and continuing to carry on the work without suitable and sufficient measures in place thereby exposing his workers to serious risk of personal injury. He was sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and must complete 200 hours of unpaid work as well as 10 days of rehabilitation. He was also ordered to pay £12,151 in costs at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 7 October 2025.
HSE inspector Saif Deen said: “Mr Ali not only ignored HSE and the criminal justice system, he showed complete contempt for the safety of workers.
“The law requires employees to ensure the health and safety of persons at their workplace. Employers have a responsibility to ensure that everyone on a building site is safe.
“We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to comply with HSE enforcement and continue to put their workers at risk.
“Working at height remains one of the leading causes of workplace death and injury.
“We would like to thank the local community for ensuring justice was done, which helps to keep people safe.”
Original Article: https://press.hse.gov.uk/2025/10/09/contractor-told-to-carry-out-unpaid-work-after-ignoring-hse-action/
