Mark Nelson Bishop fined $80k for death of Phil McGowan

A Qld concreter and owner of a major motocross park who failed to outfit a bobcat with safety measures has faced court over the driveway death of a builder who was his friend and mentor.

Mark Nelson Bishop, 51, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on Friday, September 8 to breaching the Workplace Health and Safety Act, a breach which caused the death of beloved husband, father and builder Phil McGowan.

Failing to pay $700 to fix a bobcat has cost a Gympie businessman dearly after the lack of safety features led to the death of his mate and mentor in a horrific driveway incident.

Mark Nelson Bishop, 51, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on Friday, September 8 to breaching the Workplace Health and Safety Act, a breach which caused the death of beloved husband, father and builder Phil McGowan.

Bishop, the owner of a concreting business, had been working at Mr McGowan’s Chatsworth home on the afternoon of June 13, 2022.

The court heard he had stopped the machine to chat with Mr McGowan as he was working.

Prosecutor Evan O’Hanlon-Rose said Bishop, thinking Mr McGowan was walking to the house and unaware he was behind the 51-year-old, then reversed the machine down the driveway and backed over the 69-year-old, critically injuring him.

Mark Nelson Bishop, 51, leaves the Gympie courthouse on Friday, September 8, 2023.

Investigations later revealed the bobcat had no reversing alarm, one of the rear work lights was not working, and there was no flashing light on its roof.

No exclusion zone was established around the bobcat, and no measures taken to address risks at the site.

Mr O’Hanlon-Rose said Bishop had been using the bobcat for years and knew the reversing systems were not working.

This was despite the minimal cost involved in repairing them.

“The cost of implementing the control measures … would only have cost about $700,” he said.

The bobcat had been serviced two months before Mr McGowan’s death, the court heard.

It was recommended from that service those things be fixed but “he did nothing”, Mr O’Hanlon-Rose said.

Bishop’s barrister Laura Reece said her client expressed “deep remorse” over the death of a man who had been a friend and mentor to him.

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The court heard Mark Nelson Bishop had known Phil McGowan, pictured here with his wife Michelle, for years having first met hen Bishop was 18 years old.

She told the court Bishop had first met Mr McGowan when he was 18 years old, and worked with him as a carpenter before branching out to his own business.

Bishop and his wife had given Mr McGowan CPR following the accident, she said.

The 51-year-old, who now owned “one of Australia’s top motocross parks” at Curra and was a father of four, had no criminal history and was regarded as a “valued member of the Gympie community”.

She tendered four character references to the court in support of Mr Bishop, including one from Mayor Glen Hartwig.

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Bishop and his wife attended Mr McGowan’s funeral and a relationship still existed between the two families, the court heard.

He had encouraged Mr McGowan’s widow to make an insurance claim against his business.

Magistrate Bevan Hughes said the “saddest aspect” of the matter was it was preventable.

“The only hope is Mr McGowan’s legacy as a loving father and husband, and indeed good friend and mentor, will be reflected in a sentence that will deter or prevent further loss of life and suffering,” Mr Hughes said.

“You’re going to have to live with this for the rest of your life.”

He fined Bishop $80,000 and ordered he pay the prosecution’s costs of $1601.46.

No conviction was recorded.