An employer whose complete disregard for the safety of his migrant workers led to a near fatal accident has been warned that he faces jail.

Shah Nawaz Pola had denied he had been responsible for running a building site on Allerton Road, Bradford, where a Slovakian man suffered what were thought to be non-survivable injuries after he was hit on the head by a concrete block.

But at the end of his two-week trial a jury at Bradford Crown Court yesterday unanimously convicted Pola of serious breaches of the Health and Safety Act as well as breaching a prohibition notice.

After the foreman read out the verdicts Judge Peter Benson adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report but warned Pola, 35, that he could be going to prison.

He said: "Mr Pola you must understand I will be considering uppermost in my mind a custodial sentence.

"You have been convicted by a jury of three out of the four counts remaining against you and as you have heard I am considering a custodial sentence in your case."

The jury had been told by prosecutor Simon Jackson QC that Dusan Dudi had to be rushed to hospital after he was hit by a falling concrete lintel while demolishing a wall from a temporary platform.

His injuries were so serious it was thought he would not survive. But when his life support machine was switched off, against all the odds he carried on breathing.

Mr Jackson had told the court that Pola was responsible for the untrained workers and that his cost-cutting and penny-pinching had led to the dangerous conditions.

There was no proper scaffolding in place and the workers were not given protective clothing or any training before work began in July 2005.

Jurors were told that despite not having any relevant experience Pola oversaw all the work that was carried out.

One Slovakian worker told the jury he had walked off the site because the conditions were so dangerous and Health and Safety Inspector Annette Wingate said that she was "horrified" when she visited the site after the accident in November 2005.

Giving evidence she said that Pola had told her that if the workers injured themselves it was their own fault.

Pola was then issued with a prohibition notice banning any further work until all the safety issues had been resolved.

But Mr Jackson said that Pola showed "contempt" for his legal requirements and continued on as before.

Pola, of Springcliffe Street, Heaton, had denied he was responsible for the site claiming that a Mr Shah was the principal contractor and had denied all the charges he faced.

Earlier in the trial Judge Benson had ordered the jury to find Pola not guilty on two of the alleged health and safety breaches but he was convicted of two others.

The jury also found him guilty of one breach of a prohibition notice and not guilty on another alleged breach.

Pola was released on bail with the condition that he lives and sleeps at his home address and he will return to court to be sentenced next month.