More than 13 years after one pipe layer was killed and another injured while replacing a Burnaby storm sewer, their employer is in court for a sentencing hearing.

On Oct. 11, 2012, pipe layers Thomas Richer and Jeff Caron were working in a newly excavated trench when a nearby retaining wall collapsed into the ditch. The falling rubble crushed Caron to death and seriously injured Richer.

On Dec. 11, 2025, the B.C. Supreme Court found Langley-based construction company J. Cote & Son Excavating guilty of one count each of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and criminal negligence causing death.

The maximum penalty for the corporation is a fine up to the court’s discretion.