CONSTRUCTION workers heard an “explosion” when a concrete pump malfunctioned and fatally wounded a business owner, a court has heard.

Builder William Budinger told Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday his concrete gang were working at Felixstowe dock on August 7, 2015, when boss Garry Louis was hit by a hose from the machine.

Mr Budinger said he ran straight to Mr Louis’s aid after the accident.

He said: “I did not see the hose move but I heard it.

“We heard an explosion and we knew what it was as soon as we heard it.

“I ran over to Garry. I was joking at first and I said ‘Come on Garry, get up’.

“He didn’t and that is when we knew something serious had happened.”

Mr Budinger told the court he had seen concrete operator Robert Pomphrett using an electric tool in the back of the machine’s hopper “trying to break up the concrete”.

Pomphrett, 42, and his firm Robert Pomphrett Limited deny failing to ensure people not under their employment were not exposed to risk.

The prosecution say the concrete pump was blocked, and claim it was Pomphrett’s responsibility to ensure it was usable.

Before Mr Louis, 55, was hit, Mr Budinger told the court he saw water trickle out of the hose which he said was “unusual”.

He said: “We heard the honk on the horn to signal it was turned on but nothing came out.

“There should have been a concrete coming out but something was stopping it so it was obviously blocked.”

Mr Budinger, who had worked for Mr Louis’s Silver Fox Construction firm for three years, said workers were given no induction or verbal warnings by Pomphrett, of Haynes Green Road, Layer Marney, while they were at the site.

He said: “From other companies we would have an induction about how the work would be done.”

Neil Fitzgibbon, representing Pomphrett and his firm, asked Mr Budinger if he had been aware of “hose whipping” before the incident to which he said no.

The court also heard evidence from the man who delivered the concrete mix, Stephen Tulip, who said pump blockages were “very rare”.

READ MORE: Robert Pomphrett Limited in court for health and safety breaches

The trial continues.