AN ELLESMERE Port woman suffered horrific injuries when her hair and scarf got tangled in machinery at a Deeside factory.

Kelly Nield, 24, of Parklands, Little Sutton, fell victim to the life-changing injuries at Mainetti UK Ltd, a court was told last week.

Miss Neild spent three months in hospital after crushing and twisting her larynx, scarring of her oesophagus and trachea and epiglottis, losing her hair and a fracturing her finger in the 2009 incident.

District Judge Andrew Shaw committed the case to the crown court, saying there had been ‘desperately serious’ breaches in health and safety.

Mainetti UK Ltd, which employs 200 people in the manufacture and recycling of coat hangers for supermarkets, admitted four charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive following what prosecutor Simon Parrington called ‘a horrific accident’ back in April 2009.

He said that Miss Nield sustained serious injuries to the neck and throat, together with the loss of her hair which was pulled from her head, and a fractured finger.

Her hair had been in a ponytail but it became entangled in the ‘inadequately guarded’ chain and sprocket drive of the conveyor.

Mr Parrington said that the company failed to provide proper instruction, failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery or provide an emergency stop button.

Miss Nield, an agency worker, had been provided with some training but that did not cover the dangers of working with conveyors.

She was sorting, de-labelling and packing coat hangers, blockages led to the jamming of the conveyor, and workers had devised their own systems to prevent blockages.

On her first day on the line, she tried to rectify a blockage.

But as she bent down her scarf became entangled in the inadequately guarded chain and drive.

“She was in a state of great distress as she tried to free herself with her left hand but to no avail.

“Her little finger was trapped, fractured and almost severed,” Mr Parrington said.

She shouted for help and was  freed when a co-worker ran to and pushed the main ‘off’ button.

Her hair had been torn from her head when she was trapped.

Emergency services were called and she was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital where she remained for three months and underwent a number of operations.

The accident, he said, was entirely foreseeable and avoidable.

“Miss Nield is now scarred for life,” he said.

“Although this incident had the potential to kill Miss Nield, serious injury rather than death resulted from the company’s breaches of regulations.”

Kevin Elliott, defending, handed in a basis of plea at Flintshire magistrates’ court at Mold.

But District Judge Andrew Shaw described the consequences to the victim as ‘utterly appalling.’

The company will appear for sentence at Mold Crown Court next month.