UK: Apple farm boss guilty of manslaughter
Scott Cain and Ashley Clarke suffocated in the nitrogen-filled apple container, where the oxygen level was 1%. They were trying to retrieve apples for an agricultural competition.
Andrew Stocker, who was boss of the fruit farm at Tory peer Lord Selborne's Hampshire estate, had encouraged the practice nicknamed "scuba diving".
The two men got in through a small hatch in the roof of the sealed container.
Stocker, 57, of The Links, Whitehill, Bordon, Hampshire, had denied manslaughter, but admitted exposing the men to a risk of death.
He was on holiday in the Maldives at the time of the men's deaths, but had left instructions.
Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting during the trial at Winchester Crown Court, said anyone entering the unit would "die immediately" once they ran out of air. The apples were stored for preservation in nitrogen gas.
Mr Dennis said the accepted practice in the industry for gathering samples was to use a net to hook out the fruit. The apples the men were looking for were to be entered in the Marden Fruit Show in Kent.
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