Prosecutions

CCTV reveals worker’s traumatic 11,000v shock: tree surgery firm is sentenced

By Belinda Liversedge on 07 May 2026

An employer has been fined after a tree surgeon suffered a powerful electric shock when the mobile lighting tower he was pushing made contact with an overhead powerline.

HSE released dramatic CCTV footage of the incident this week after successfully prosecuting Upton Specialised Tree Services – resulting in a £60k fine.

Joshua Pocknell had been working as part of a team of three on the A3102, a busy road near Royal Wootton Bassett.

The job was for Wiltshire Council and conducted at night to allow for traffic flow as the A3102 acted as a diversion for M4.

Shortly after midnight on 19 January 2024, the lighting tower he was pushing made contact with 11,000 volt overhead powerline.

A still from the CCTV footage showing how the incident unfolded. Image HSE / www.youtube.com

Speaking two years on from the incident, he recalls: “My whole body locked and I felt hot and cramping, he said.

“I could hear the electricity in my head and thought I was going to die. I hit the floor and passed out, still cramping.

“I later discovered a hole had burnt through my arm and hip all the way to the bone.”

Joshua, who said he doubts he will return to tree surgery, a “job he used to love”, still experiences pain from the life-threatening injuries he sustained.

“This incident has torn the life from beneath me,” he said.

HSE’s investigation found employer Upton Specialist Tree Services had requested a permit to carry out the work of a nighttime from Wiltshire Council.

However, the company had failed to adequately plan for or risk assess the dangers posed by overhead power lines “particularly following the change to night-time working”, said HSE.

The company did not implement suitable control measures, such as barriers, instruction or training in operating the mobile lighting tower.

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd, of Wimborne, was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £6,237 in costs for breaching Regulation 14 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 by virtue of Regulation 3.

Commenting after the case on 5 May, Investigating HSE inspector Tom Preston said: “Joshua is lucky to be alive.

“Overhead electrical power lines present extreme risks to workers, but the risks can and must be controlled.

“In this case, a worker sustained severe injuries in a traumatic incident for all concerned that was entirely preventable,” he added.

Overhead power lines – HSE guidance here