Benjamin Randall, aged 21, and a work colleague had hitched a ride on the vehicle, driven by John Anthony Hindle, their foreman, by holding on to the sides of the vehicle, Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday.
But Hindle lost control while reversing do
wn a steep slope during dismantling work on temporary fencing, in place for bonfire night celebrations, in 2003.
As the gradient got steeper the forklift slid and toppled over when it reach the road, trapping Mr Randall under the offside cab door.
Hindle, 35, a father-of-four of Shay Lane, Holmfield, Halifax, admitted causing the death of Mr Randall by dangerous driving on November 7, 2003.
He was sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for two years, disqualified from driving and ordered to pay £1,425 costs.
Judge James Stewart QC told him such cases normally involved serious offending and received a custodial sentence but this was an exception: "In my judgment you were not deliberately driving dangerously. As the foreman responsible for dismantling the fencing after the bonfire display you were seeking to get on with your job in your employer's interests as quickly and effectively as possible and the result was you cut corners in one sense, although with the best of motives."
He said Hindle told a representative of Leeds City Council, from whom the truck was borrowed, that he was certified to drive it when he was not, then allowed his two young workmates to "hitch a lift by riding shotgun" to save them walking downhill, a grave mistake as demonstrated by the tragedy.
The judge said Hindle reversed down the hill when he should have been going forwards because the truck was then unloaded, was in third gear instead of first and in two-wheel rather than four-wheel drive.
He said: "The result, bearing in mind the route you took, was an accident waiting to happen. I am quite sure you were not doing an excessive speed but in the circumstances which were inherently dangerous you lost control, the vehicle flipped over, killing Benjamin Randall."
Judge Stewart said the student's family were understandably devastated: "To lose one so young and talented is a tragedy of the greatest proportion but sending you immediately to prison won't bring young Benjamin Randall back, all it would do would be to create great grief for your family."
Andrew Dallas, prosecuting, said Mr Randall, a sports studies student at the University of Huddersfield, was working for Event Services Ltd, contracted by Leeds City Council to put up and dismantle the safety fences used at the display.
Hindle was allowed to use the forklift truck, on hire to the council, after he told a representative he had his "ticket" to drive it. In fact he had not been formally trained by his employers on such vehicles although he had driven them before.
Event Services Ltd were previously fined £18,000 for a breach of health and safety regulations over the incident.
After the tragedy Hindle initially told a nurse and a police officer the vehicle had struck Benjamin when he was standing by the barriers, but accepted in interview giving him and his colleague Lee Orton a ride. Mr Orton suffered a fractured knee.
Robin Frieze, mitigating for Hindle, said he wished he could turn the clock back and bitterly regretted his actions that day.
Mr Randall's mother Jean described her son as "funny, loyal and a joy to have in our lives" adding that she felt "no malice towards anyone connected with the incident which led to Ben's death."
