A judge has ordered Springhill Construction to put $100,000 toward an education fund in honour of a Fredericton teenager who died working at a company jobsite. 

Springhill has 30 days to set aside the money for the Michael Henderson Carpentry Bursary, named for the 18-year-old who died while working for the company on a construction site in Fredericton in August 2018.

The sentence was issued in Fredericton on Friday by Chief Judge Jeffrey Lantz of the P.E.I. provincial court, who was brought in to adjudicate the case.

“Whatever is done here today in court does not bring back Mr. Henderson,” Lantz said.

“The proposal will allow for something positive to come from this incident. Mr. Henderson’s bursary will be a reminder of the importance of workplace safety, and the tragedy that can result when workplace safety is taken for granted.”

Lantz’s sentence aligned with a joint recommendation submitted earlier in the morning by Crown prosecutor Christopher Lavigne and defence lawyer Clarence Bennett.

Lantz said mitigating factors in the sentence were Springhill Construction’s earlier guilty plea to the charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

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