Darwin-based contractor Craig Williams set to face Supreme Court jury in Alan Dinning’s industrial manslaughter case

International witnesses will be called ahead of the Territory’s first ever industrial manslaughter trial, investigating the death of a beloved grandfather in one of Darwin’s wealthiest suburbs.

Darwin-based contractor Craig Williams was the primary contractor on the site and charged with industrial manslaughter three years after Mr Dinning’s death. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The Northern Territory’s first ever industrial manslaughter trial will call on witnesses from around the globe to explore the circumstances of a beloved grandfather’s death in one of Darwin’s wealthiest suburbs.

On Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Southwood heard subpoenas had been sent across Australia and out to Greece in order to investigate the death of 60-year-old Alan Dinning on April 8, 2020.

It is alleged Mr Dinning was moving cabinets when he fell 3.2m through a void at a two-storey residential construction site at Bayview.

Darwin-based contractor Craig Williams was the primary contractor on the site and charged with industrial manslaughter three years after Mr Dinning’s death, in March 2023.

Mr Williams’ upcoming 10-day trial will be the first time an industrial manslaughter charge has been elevated to the NT Supreme Court since the laws were introduced in February 2020.

Worksafe NT and the police investigated the fatal incident at a worksite in Bayview in April 2020. Picture: Che Chorley

However, just 30 days out from his March trial, Work Health Authority representative Nick Papas said there was a faint possibility the case would be resolved.

Mr Papas said while discussions were ongoing, he did not have a great hope they would reach an appropriate plea.

“For the moment we’re nowhere near that,” he said.

Defence barrister Luke Officer said while his client may be open to pleading to a lesser charge, it remained “a long shot” due to a two-year statute of limitations for non-manslaughter charges under the Territory’s workplace safety act.

Mr Officer said the workplace safety authority could not reduce the charges due to the time limitations under the act.

“It’s got significant consequences as to the penalty, which my client has given thought to — but it may be that this doesn’t get over the line,” he said.

Darwin contractor Craig Williams was charged with industrial manslaughter over the death of a construction worker in April 2020. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Justice Southwood also raised concerns over a 16-page statement of facts prepared ahead of the landmark industrial manslaughter case.

“I am really more concerned about a jury,” Justice Southwood told Mr Papas.

“If the opening is going to be in this form I can see a number of them going cross eyed.”

Mr Papas said the jury would be presented with an explanation of the duties owed by employers to their workers, and at what point a breach may reach the point of recklessness and negligence.

“I’ll simply say if a duty fails to such a degree that it causes a death of someone on site, a worker, then they’re guilty,” he said.

The matter was adjourned to February 17 for a further pretrial mention.

Originally published as Darwin-based contractor Craig Williams set to face Supreme Court jury in Alan Dinning’s industrial manslaughter case