Two firms and a manager have been convicted after a labourer was killed when he was buried alive on a construction site.Gheorghita Arsene, 33, who was known as Geo, died when a deep trench collapsed on top of him, covering him in soil, as he worked in Banstead, Surrey on 24 June, 2020.The accident happened at a site on Park Road where an old care home had been demolished to make way for a new purpose-built care home.The victim had been working to replace a damaged pipe at the bottom of the 10ft deep trench which had been dug with a three-tonne digger.He had been clearing soil with a shovel and pickaxe when, without warning, one or more of the trench walls collapsed.His co-worker on a digger had shouted a warning but Mr Arsene only took a couple of steps before he was covered in earth.His colleague ran for help and desperate attempts were made to get him out and clear away soil from his face and body.Following a trial at the Old Bailey lasting more than three months, principal contractor Appledorn Developments Limited and T Vaughan Limited were found guilty of a health and safety charge of failing to discharge their duties (PA Archive)Fire and ambulance crews were called to the scene but paramedics’ efforts to revive the Romanian national were hampered by the weight of the soil around him and difficulties in digging him out.As Mr Arsene could not be removed from the trench it was not possible to carry out chest compressions and he was pronounced dead at 2.44pm, an hour after the accident happened.Health and safety inspectors found there were no supports to the trench and the excavated soil had been deposited right next to it, the Old Bailey heard.John McGuinness KC had told jurors: “The prosecution case is that George’s death was entirely avoidable. It should never have happened.”Following a trial at the Old Bailey lasting more than three months, principal contractor Appledorn Developments Limited and T Vaughan Limited were found guilty of a health and safety charge of failing to discharge their duties.On Friday, contracts manager Anthony O’Connor, 42, of Romford, Essex, pleaded guilty to failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety Act 1974, which was accepted by the prosecution.Previously, a jury deliberated for 73 hours and 28 minutes and was discharged after failing to reach a verdict in relation to a charge of manslaughter against O’Connor.Site manager Peter Wraith, 54, from New Waltham in Lincolnshire, was cleared of manslaughter and assistant site manager Gregory Peake, 51, from Bromley in south-east London, was acquitted of failing to discharge his health and safety duty.Judge Judy Khan KC ordered a pre-sentence report and adjourned sentencing until 7 September.