THE manager of a fruit storage unit in Hampshire has been sentenced for the manslaughter of two workers who died while entering an oxygen-deprived storage unit to collect apples for a fruit competition.

Andrew Stocker, 57, of The Links, Whitehill, Bordon, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court last month over the deaths of two employees at the Blackmoor Estate in Liss, owned by Tory peer Lord Selborne.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years on Wednesday.

A jury found him guilty of causing the deaths by ignoring health and safety regulations through encouraging staff to use the ''dangerous'' practice of ''scuba diving''.

This involved the workers entering the storage unit, which only has 1 per cent oxygen, through a hatch on the roof, holding their breath as they balanced on crates of apples stacked high, and ducking in to collect the best samples to enter the Marden Fruit Show in Kent.

Blackmoor Estate Ltd is also to be sentenced after entering guilty pleas to three counts of contravening regulations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The charges relate to failing to provide adequate emergency plans and carrying insufficient risk assessments.

Scott Cain, 23, who was engaged to be married to the mother of his young child, and Ashley Clarke, 24, who was also engaged, were both found unconscious in one of the storage facilities on the afternoon of Monday February 18 2013.

Efforts by colleagues and paramedics to revive them were unsuccessful and both were declared dead at the scene.

Speaking after last month's hearing, Mr Clarke's father, Ian Clarke, from Emsworth, said: ''We are quite upset that someone could put someone's lives at risk to collect apples for a competition. For me, it doesn't make sense, it's beyond belief.

''I do not think he's a bad man but he's left us without a son.''

Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting, told the trial that Stocker, who was on holiday in the Maldives at the time of the incident, had instructed Mr Cain to gather the sample fruit while he was away to be entered in the Marden Fruit Show, held twice a year.

He said Stocker enjoyed the ''kudos'' of winning at the contest rather than claiming the ''modest'' financial prizes.

Mr Dennis said the air in the sealed units had oxygen levels reduced to 1% for the long-term preservation of the fruit and a person would die immediately after they ran out of breath while in the facility.

Mr Dennis said that, despite being aware of the risks, he encouraged the practice and added: ''In so acting he breached his duty of care to the two young men who died and his breach amounted to gross negligence and that directly led to the tragic loss of two lives.''

He said the accepted practice in the industry for gathering samples was to use a net to hook out the fruit but this random selection was not suitable for selecting apples of the right size to be entered for competitions.

He added: ''Andrew Stocker was a keen participant in this competition and took pride in his entries.

''Financial prizes were very modest; however, it was the kudos of winning that was more important.