The mother of a 17-year-old boy who died in a 22-foot fall from a ladder has told a jury of her horror at being told of his accident.

Caroline Finch told a manslaughter trial how she was too shaken to ring close relatives after learning that her son Beau Jennians had been seriously injured.

She said his ’boss’ Colin Jeffery came to her home to break the news after Beau fell from a ladder while painting fascia boards on a house at Abbotskerswell, near Newton Abbot, in December 2014.

She told Exeter Crown Court how Jeffery told her Beau had been airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth but was okay.

He drove her to the hospital and during the journey he tried to persuade her that Beau was working for himself and was not an employee of his Torbay-based Utterly Gutterly business.

Jeffery, aged 58, of Durham Close, Paignton, denies manslaughter and failing to ensure the safety of an employee working at height.

The jury were told he has admitted four charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act of failing to ensure the safety of employees between April 2014 and February 2015.

The prosecution say he exploited the bravado and naivety of young workers who worked at height using ladders rather than scaffolding so he could undercut competitors.

Beau was moonlighting for Jeffery three or four days a week while taking an electrical course at South Devon College and was often sent onto roofs without any safety training or precautions.

Just days before his death he had taken a selfie from the roof of a house where he was painting a chimney while the only thing stopping him from falling was a piece of rope tied around the chimney.

Keen skateboarder Beau, who had a second part time job at McDonalds, was found unconscious at the foot of the ladder by the owner of The Coach House in Abbotskerswell where he was working on his own on December 4, 2014. He died the next day.

His mother Ms Finch said he started working for Utterly Gutterly in July or August and Jeffery promised him he could take over the business in four years if things went well.

She said he did not believe it and was becoming disillusioned with Jeffery by the time of his death. Beau told his mother he was working on a job which was worth about £800 to him.

On the morning of the accident Beau gave his girlfriend Chelsea Boon a lift to college and went on to work.

Ms Finch said: ’I did not know what Beau was due to be up to. About lunchtime Jeffery came to my door. I knew him because he had been to my home before more than once.

’He said Beau had fallen off a ladder and been airlifted to Derriford but was okay. I was in panic and I tried to phone family members but he had to do it because I could not use the phone.

’I got into his car with him and an older man and we travelled to Derriford. On the way down he was telling me Beau was self-employed. It did not seem normal. It was not something I needed to know at that point.

’I just ran into the hospital. I did not know where I was going. It was clear things were very bad. Somebody told me Jeffery had to go. I had still not seen my son.

’Beau did not really like working there. He only saw a future for himself at the very beginning. He wanted to have a car and money and to go on holiday when he was 18.’

Chelsea Boon said Beau had been working for Jeffery on the day he died and had never worked on his own account.

She sobbed as she told the jury: ’On December 4, I knew Beau was going to the house at Abbotskerswell. I assumed he was going with Colin. That afternoon I found out he was in hospital.’