An Australian packing company has been fined an additional 100,000 dollars on appeal, after a backpacker from north Tipp sustained life-changing injuries while at work.
Kalafatis Packing had originally been ordered to pay just 50,000 dollars – just over 45,000 euro – in January.
Tipperary woman Annie Dunne began working for Kalafatis Packing in November of 2015.
On the day of the accident, she was cleaning a conveyor belt at a packing shed, when a colleague mistakenly turned the machine on.
The Kilkeary native’s hair got entangled in the conveyor belt and she suffered horrific injuries to her scalp and ear.
Following the initial court case, the company pled guilty to failing to provide a safe system of work and was fined fifty thousand dollars.
They were also ordered to cover 22,000 dollars worth of court costs.
Prosecutors in Australia appealed the original decision handed down to the Victoria-based company – following the incident involving the Tipperary student.
The Director of Public Prosecutions labelled the sentence “manifestly inadequate” and Shepparton County Court yesterday increased the penalty to a 150,000 dollar fine.
