A businessman has gone on trial accused of the manslaughter of a worker who was buried alive in a trench as he fixed his faulty swimming pool.

Former UKIP candidate Keith Crawford allegedly rejected safety measure which would have cost just £480 as too costly and told workers ’eff that, this is costing stupid money now’.

Labourer Peter Clements died three days after being hit by a slab of earth that fell on top of him as he was trying to escape the nine-foot deep trench on Crawford’s land near Exeter.

The metre-wide excavation had no trench sheets or wooden trench box to support the sides and collapsed on Mr Clements during heavy rain in January 2015.

Mr Clements, aged 48, was working with his son Ryan, who escaped just in time and tried to save his father by pulling him out with a strap around his chest which was attached to a digger arm.

The jury at Exeter Crown Court have been told that Crawford had a cavalier attitude and put speed and cost before safety. It would have cost just £480 to have hired a trench box.

Former soldier and property manager Crawford, aged 73, of Pocombe Bridge, near Ide, Exeter, denies gross negligence manslaughter and failing to ensure the safety of an employee.

He says Mr Clements was not an employee and was a self-employed builder who was organising the work and was responsible for his own safety.

Mr Stephen Mooney, prosecuting, said Mr Clements died in hospital from cardiac arrest three days after being buried in earth and suffering broken ribs and other crush injuries in January 2015.

He was working with his son Ryan and a digger driver hired by Crawford to dig a drain which was intended to remove water which was bubbling up under the lining of the swimming pool at his home, Providence Court Farm.

Crawford owned a number of properties and effectively employed Mr Clements as a maintenance man working up to six days a week. He was paid cash in hand.

Mr Mooney said Crawford insisted on carrying on digging the trench in heavy rain despite concerns raised by Mr Clements and digger driver Ross Phillips.

He said: ‘The reason he gave for not using a trench box was that it was too expensive. That is not a legitimate reason not to put safety measures in place.

‘We say he had either a cavalier or entirely inappropriate approach to safety. He wanted them to carry out the work as quickly as possible and with the least cost.

‘Crawford must have been aware that conditions in the trench were extremely unsafe and could have asked Peter and Ryan to stop until measures had been taken.

‘What did he say? He said “F*** that, this is going stupid money now. Carry on with what you are doing”. It demonstrated he was directing the work and his complete unwillingness to use safety measures.

‘One telling feature, bearing in mind his view on expense, is that if he had chosen to rent a trench box, the cost would have been £480. That was the cost to prevent Mr Clements’ death. It was not a cost he was prepared to incur.

‘We say he had a duty of care to ensure the safety of Mr Clements and he was grossly in breach of that duty. He must have been aware of the risk of death.

‘The reason safety measures were not in place was because Crawford wanted the work carried out as quickly as possible with the minimum expense to himself."

Crawford told safety investigators he had paid Mr Clements £3,600 to do the work and he was in charge of the project and responsible for safety.

Crawford stood as the UKIP candidate in Exeter in the 2010 and 2015 general elections, losing to Labour’s Ben Bradshaw on both occasions.