A former recycling company manager, locked up after a dad was crushed to death by a baling machine, has failed in a bid to get his conviction overturned.

Paul Jukes, 46, of Church Road, Dodleston, near Chester, was jailed for nine months and ordered to pay £7,000 prosecution costs at Liverpool Crown Court on December 15, 2016.

He was convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 of failing to discharge his duty to take reasonable care of the health and safety of employees.

Jukes was transport and operations manager at Gaskells (North West) Ltd in Bootle, Lord Justice Flaux told London's Appeal Court.

The waste and recycling company employed about 90 people and processed 50 tonnes of waste a day.

Zbigniew Galka, 39, was fatally injured when he climbed into the baling machine to clear a blockage in December 2010.

Jukes' defence at trial was that prosecutors had overstated his responsibility for health and safety matters.

He also claimed he had not been aware that a guard on the machine had been bypassed.

But prosecutors pointed out that after leaving the company Jukes claimed he had been responsible for health and safety on a CV.

James Ageros QC, for Jukes, argued that his conviction was "unsafe" due to two pieces of prejudicial evidence being put before the jury.

Dismissing the challenge, however, Lord Justice Flaux said there was “no unfairness”.

The judge, sitting with Mrs Justice Davies and Judge Neil Bidder QC, concluded: "Neither of the grounds of appeal even begins to establish that this conviction is unsafe and this appeal is dismissed."