Midfield Meat fronts court for plea hearing following death of worker

Mr Smith was tragically killed by a stag while working alone in a cattle yard on a private property near Dunkeld in December 2017.

His employer Midfield Meat was last month found guilty of one of two charges of failing to provide a safe working environment during a Warrnambool County Court trial.

The charge related to Midfield's failure to have a system to ensure cattle handlers conducted risk assessments before working in enclosed yards and did not work alone.

The prosecution on Wednesday filed a notice of discontinuance in relation to the other charge, which the jury was unable to make a decision on last month.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Smith's wife Kelly said he was "a loving husband, an amazing father to our three beautiful children, a loved son and family member and a good friend to many".

The statement said the family had been unable to move on with their lives in the four years since Mr Smith's death.

"As a family we would never want to wish any family nor their loved ones to go through what we have had to endure. To us, there are no winners," Mrs Smith wrote.

She said her husband used to say "something good comes out of a bad situation".

"So let's honour these words by aspiring to educate and promote farm safety to ensure no one ever has to face these challenges again," she wrote.

The statement said the love, care, support and respect that Midfield Meat boss Dean McKenna had showed to the Smith family was "something that we will always hold close in our hearts".

"No employer or friend should ever have to do what Dean did for us on that horrid day," the statement said.

Midfield was charged in relation to its work practices relating to dealing with cattle, not for being responsible for Mr Smith's death.

Prosecutor Megan Tittensor said the charge carried a maximum penalty of a $1.4 million fine.

Judge Michael O'Connell will consider a number of issues before sentencing, including relevant case law and the likelihood of risk.

Barrister David Neal said Midfield provided 1076 jobs to the Warrnambool community and had donated about $1.2 million to health services, public causes and sporting clubs.

Midfield Meat will be sentenced at a later date.

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