A digger driver is due to enter a plea at Birmingham Crown Court following the death of a Solihull man on a building site.

Jonathan Gold, 47, is charged with perverting the course of justice, perjury and failing to ensure the safety of a non-employee.

Site engineer Mark Handford, aged 22, died instantly when the bucket from an excavation digger came loose and fell on him as he helped to carry out levelling work on Claybrook Drive, in Redditch, on August 12, 2009.

His family called for a mandatory ban on the type of digger mechanism involved after an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Gold was working as a sub-contractor on the site and was trading as Gold Plant Hire.

He is due to appear at Crown Court on June 15 for a plea and case management hearing.

Jayne Salt, head of the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service Complex Casework Unit, said: “These charges relate to the death on a construction site of Mark Handford when Gold allegedly struck the deceased with an excavator that he was operating.

“It is alleged that he then altered evidence at the scene, gave a false account to police of how the incident happened which caused them to investigate on a false basis and then in due course repeated that false account at an inquest.

“This decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

“After careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.”

A trial date has been provisionally set for September 3.

Mr Gold appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on March 5 for a preliminary hearing. No plea was taken and the defendant was released on bail.