A company landed with a £100,000 fine after a worker died due to health and safety breaches has failed in a court appeal against the six-figure sum.

Marble City Ltd, in Smugglers Way, Wandsworth, and its directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron were all fined in April after 51-year-old Ronald Douglas was crushed by six tonnes of stone slabs he was helping unload from a lorry.

Mr Douglas, a grandfather from Vauxhall, died from his injuries in hospital a week after the incident on March 20, 2008.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Marble City Ltd and its two directors. It led to the company being fined £100,000 and paying costs of £47,564 after pleading guilty to breaching two sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Judge Taylor, at Southwark Crown Court, also slapped the Waldrons with separate £10,000 fines after they each pleaded guilty to two breaches of the act.

But lawyers for Marble City Ltd contested the £100,000 fine at the Court of Appeal on July 8, arguing before three top judges that is was “manifestly excessive”.

They claimed Judge Taylor had not paid enough attention to mitigating factors such as the company’s otherwise responsible attitude towards health and safety, its guilty plea and co-operation with investigators.

The court also heard the fine would have a bad effect on a company struggling to make it through the current economic climate - and which already expected to make a loss this year.

However, Mrs Justice Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Bean threw out the appeal and upheld the original ruling.

Mrs Justice Sharp said: “All of the matters advanced before us were advanced before the sentencing judge and she took them fully into account.

“In our view, the judges sentencing remarks in this case were a model of fairness and clarity and we can detect no error in her approach.”

Marble City Ltd declined to comment.