Nicola De Marte: Bunbury-based crane hire business owner faces trial for damaging rival company’s equipment

The owner of a Bunbury-based crane hire business is on trial fighting accusations of deliberately damaging a rival company’s crane while visiting a Harvey worksite. A Bunbury Magistrates Court trial began on Monday with Nicola De Marte accused of criminal damage, stemming from an alleged incident in November 2020. Police alleged Mr De Marte visited the Harvey Beef abattoir late morning on November 14, 2020. At the time, both his crane hire company Halifax Crane Hire and competing company Hotweld Fabrication were on site completing construction work at the abattoir. It was alleged Mr De Marte approached a Hotweld Fabrication-owned crane that was securely parked on site after it had been used during the week to erect a structure. Police say Mr De Marte used a cutting tool and severed the crane’s boom retractor cable, rendering it inoperable. However, it was not until Hotweld Fabrication employees returned to the site the following Monday when the alleged damage was discovered. In opening, police prosecutor Sen. Sgt Warwick Walker submitted the damage caused to the crane was deliberately caused by Mr De Marte while defence counsel Anthony Eyers submitted the crane already had faults in the lead-up to the alleged incident, submitting the cable had been severed by way of a mechanical fault or environmental factors and Mr De Marte could not have reached the cable to be able to cut it. In court, CCTV footage showed the affected crane in working order when it was packed down during the afternoon of November 13, 2020, as well as Mr De Marte approaching the crane the following morning. The court also heard evidence that the crane had undergone a routine inspection several weeks before the alleged incident, with crane inspector Thomas Price telling the court he noted several minor faults within the crane’s main winch and boom but nothing that affected the retractor cable. Mr Price also gave evidence that there was no evidence of a fault within the cable during previous annual inspections dating back to 2017, telling the court a fault would have been picked up on the crane’s computer. When asked about black insulation tape that was shown to cover a section of the cable, Mr Price told the court he could not recall seeing any tape on the cable at the time of inspection but would have made inquiries if he had seen it. However, Mr Price told the court it was common for tape to be used as a protective measure to prevent friction between the cable and the eyelets it runs through. The trial continues.