Jeff Plevey, 56, died after the collapse of the abandoned castle church in Splott, Cardiff. One of the men on trial for death denied cutting corners at work

The director of a company that owns the scaffolding death caused by the collapse of the church said he felt "disgusting" about the incident but denied cutting corners in order to save money.

Jeff Plevey, 56, from Cardiff, died on July 18, 2017 when the Citadel Church in Splott collapsed and crushed him to death.

Mark Gulley of Amos Projects Limited was one of four men tried in the Swansea Criminal Court in connection with the death of Mr. Plevey.

He and Richard Lyons from Bristol are partners in Optima Scaffold Design Solutions, and they have been charged with health and safety crimes.

Keith Young, 72, is the head of Young Contractors, the company hired to carry out the demolition work, and Stewart Swain, 54, is the head of Swain Scaffolding, and they are charged with aggravated manslaughter.

Gulley told the court on Thursday how he became a director of Amos Projects Limited in 2012 when the former director Stephen Addicott, whom he called his "best friend," passed away.

The 59-year-old had worked for Mr. Addicott for many years. He said that he was asked to help sell some of the buildings owned by the company and represented Mr. Addicott's widow Gillian as the new owner.

One of the properties was Citadel, which was bought by Mr. Addicott and his then partner Andrew Morris in 2006. He planned to redevelop it into an apartment, but later decided to demolish the abandoned church and sell the plot.

Gulley said that after accepting Mr. Karim's offer to purchase the site on the condition that the church was razed to the ground in 2013, he began to hire a contractor.

He told the jury that although he was still at the center of other communications between the email chain and the contractor, he was not involved in the detailed planning of the demolition or scaffolding design because he was “unqualified” and would only “forward the email” to Related parties.

The hearing was told that when the police investigating the incident asked why he did not hand over the contractor to it as usual, Gulli said, “Don’t you think I wish I had it?”

As part of the electrification of the railway between Cardiff and London, Network Rail is undertaking construction on the nearby Sparrow Bridge and conducted an investigation into the condition of the building. The investigation stated that the back wall is “in danger of collapsing”. .

Gulley received this report in the summer of 2016 and shared it with all designated contractors except Swain.

The prosecutor said that although it was aware of the dangers posed by the wall, not enough work was done to stabilize it, and it was tied to the wall when the scaffolding was erected.

When the collapse occurred, three workers were on the scaffolding. The two escaped, but Mr. Plevi was killed.

When his defense attorney David Elias QC asked him if he had tried to save money or cut corners during the project, Gulley said, "No."

The defendant said that Swain told him about the collapse, he called him "distress", and he went directly to the scene.

Mr. Elias asked: "How did you feel when you got there?"

Young and Swain chose not to testify in person, but the court read out some character recommendations written by Swain's family and friends.

These letters focused on his caring nature, especially for his two children, grandson and his wife Jacquie. After she had a rare breast cancer and permanent disability, he took care of her full-time.

Swain’s daughter Emily said in a statement: “The tragic accident that killed Jeff almost destroyed my father. He is one of his oldest friends.”

Justice Jefford's previous 10-week trial has entered its sixth week, but it was postponed last week after a defendant tested positive for Covid-19.

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