N.S. company accused of failing to live up to sentence in diver's death

A Nova Scotia diving company that pleaded guilty to occupational health and safety charges in the death of an employee is being accused of failing to comply with the terms of its sentence.

Paul's Diving Services and its owner, Greg Paul, pleaded guilty to two charges in the death of Luke Seabrook, 39.

The Dartmouth diver drowned on July 15, 2015 at the Annapolis Tidal Power Plant in Annapolis Royal, N.S. He got stuck underwater while inspecting gates on the dam.

The company admitted to not having an adequate dive plan in place and failing to assess whether the dive was happening in hazardous conditions.

Following its guilty pleas, the company was ordered to pay $34,000 and conduct a series of safety presentations.

But after that sentence was handed down in October2017, the company tried to withdraw its guilty pleas and reopen the case.

Company argued bias

The company argued the expert witness the Crown had used at the sentencing was biased and the company didn't discover this until after the guilty pleas were entered and the sentences were imposed. The appeal attempt ultimately failed.

In November 2020, the Nova Scotia Department of Labour charged Paul and his company with failing to comply with the terms of their original sentence. The matter was scheduled to be heard in August.

On Thursday morning, lawyers for the Crown and the company appeared in provincial court in Halifax to ask for a postponement of the trial until March 2022.

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