Nobody was hurt in the incident, which took place on 25 May 2004.
But Mitchell Crane Hire director Michael Deeble accepted blame after a 40t (45 USt) crane, which had been lifting trees from the back yard of the home in Summit Crescent, lost its balance trying to lift a load around five times heavier than the operator expected.
The Southport Industrial Court was told that the crane operator had instructed two tree loppers to keep loads they attached to the crane below 700kg, but a tree trunk that brought the crane down had weighed up to an estimated 3.5t (4 USt).
The Canberra-based hire company’s lawyer told the court that the crane operator had placed too much trust in two tree loppers who had been placing loads on the crane that morning.
