A company has been fined £3m after a 62-year-old man died while dismantling a decommissioned gas rig in Great Yarmouth.

Stephen Picken was cutting the rig with a colleague from a cherry picker in Great Yarmouth outer harbour in 2019 when a large piece of metal fell off and struck the platform, catapulting the men off.

Mr Picken, from Stoke-on-Trent, who specialised in cutting metal with oxy-propane equipment and was described as “the best in the country”, died at the scene while his colleague Mark Kumar survived but suffered life-changing injuries.

Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Ltd, which employed the two men, admitted failing to ensure their health and safety at work.

An emergency vehicle leaving the scene of Stephen Picken's death at Great Yarmouth's outer harbour in October 2019. An emergency vehicle leaving the scene of Stephen Picken's death at Great Yarmouth's outer harbour in October 2019. (Image: Daniel Hickey) READ MORE: Film of demolition worker's death at Great Yarmouth gas rig shown to courtroom

The incident happened on the morning of October 17, 2019, when Mr Picken was dismantling part of an oil rig.

A metal column toppled to the ground, hitting the platform on the way, and throwing the men to the ground from 12 to 14m (40 to 45ft) up.

At a sentencing hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday, Judge Martyn Levett said: "It was a foreseeable accident that could have been avoided."

There were a number of failings which fell far short of the standards recognised in the decommissioning industry, he said.

READ MORE: Company 'fell short of its own standards' when demolition worker died, court hears

Previously, the court heard that no cutting plans had been produced for the work being undertaken to show where, how and what angle to make cuts during the demolition.

The judge fined Veolia £3m and ordered it to pay costs of £60,000.

He added that a financial penalty "cannot put a price on the life of a much loved man, Mr Picken", and offered his condolences to his family.

Previously, the court heard in a statement from Mr Picken's wife Gail that her husband was a "highly regarded person in the industry" who was hardworking, honest and "a stickler for rules".

The couple had been planning to retire to Fuerteventura.