When I saw my fingers lying in the machine I knew it was bad

Recycling firm fined £24,000 for health and safety failings

- RUTH SUTER

A RECYCLING firm has been fined after a dad had his fingers torn off in a freak accident at work.

Barry Pae, 43, was changing the cutting blade on a copper granulator a machine that strips the plastic coating from electrical wires - when it activated without warning.

The machine severed all four fingers from his left hand and he was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he underwent multiple surgeries.

Despite the efforts of medics, they were unable to reattach his fingers and could only stitch up the open wounds.

They also had to operate on his left wrist which fractured in the incident and attach a metal plate, which has resulted in limited mobility.