Summary of Corporate Manslaughter cases - April 2017

Case/citation(s)/

relevant links

Type/size of organisation

Facts

Charges against organisation

Guilty?

Trial or

Plea?

Fine?

Costs?

Publicity order/remedial order/compensation order?

Proceedings brought against individual(s)?

Disqualification?

Conviction no.

Act comes into force 6 April, 2008

February 2010 Original Sentencing Guidelines issued

2011

R v Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) Ltd

[2011] All ER (D) May 100

[2011] EWCA Crim 1337

[2012] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 26;

Winchester Crown Court

(15 February 2011)

/

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) (May 2011)

Health and Safety Bulletin 397 p.1(Lexis Nexis)

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/107_11/

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/107_11/; [2012] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 26;

Company

Small, only 8 employees and a sole director

Turned over around £300,000 in 2007.

Company has since been dissolved (2014)

An employee geologist was killed when a pit collapsed on him whilst he was taking soil samples on 5 September 2008.

The jury heard that the walls of the trial pit were not supported and soil collapsed into the trial pit, burying and asphyxiating the employee

Sole director on site shortly before the accident

Prosecution alleged that Cotswold had failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect the employee/failed to follow health and safety guidance etc.

There had been an earlier incident when the company failed to heed advice and guidance given by the Health and Safety Executive about the danger of unsupported pits.

1. CM

2. Breach of the general duty under s.2(1) of the HSWA 1974 for failing to look after the health and safety of its employee. HSWA charge was not pursued by P leaving only CM charge.  

Guilty of CM

Trial (3 week trial)

Yes. £385,000 payable over a period of 10 years at £38,500 per annum (reported as approx. 116% of turnover but CA case suggests 250% of turnover. Vg comment: turnover appears to have fallen after death accounting for the conflicting reports)

The company was not given a larger fine, and was given time to pay over 10 years, given its poor financial state to avoid pushing it into insolvency

However, the fine, coupled with the legal expenses, ultimately  resulted in the company becoming insolvent.

The company sougtht leave to appeal the sentence but this was rejected. Case confirmed  a fine which had the effect of putting a company out of business might be an acceptable consequence of a conviction for corporate manslaughter.

Interestingly, the company tried to argue that a trial against it for CM should not proceed given that its sole director was too ill to give evidence. However, this argument failed on the basis that PE had given detailed statements at the time of the incident and appropriate directions were given to the jury about the disadvantages faced by the company through the inability for medical reasons of Mr Eaton to give his evidence live.

Leave to appeal the conviction was also refused.

No prosecution costs ordered because of poor financial state of company.

No (provisions on publicity orders in force but did not apply to an offence committed before 15 February 2010).

Arguably, a publicity order in this case would have been superfluous. Cotswold’s prosecution and sentencing were widely reported, not just in the health and safety press, but also at national level.

The prosecution raised the possibility of  making a remedial order but this was rejected by the judge who thought it unnecessary given actions taken by the HSE.

The company’s sole director (Peter Eaton) was also personally charged with the common law offence of manslaughter by gross negligence and with an offence under section 37 of the HSWA 1974 (consent or connivance by him to the company's failure to discharge its statutory duty under the 1974 Act, or causing the breach of that duty by his own neglect.)

The charges against the director personally were stayed due to his ill-health (terminal illness)

No disqualification

1

2012

R v JMW Farms Limited (2012)

Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland v JMW Farms Ltd Unreported May 8, 2012 (Crown Ct (Belfast))

Not fully reported www.courtsni.gov.uk/en- https://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/Judicial%20Decisions/SummaryJudgments/Documents/Summary%20of%20judgment%20-%20R%20v%20J%20M%20W%20Farm%20Limited/j_sj_R-v-JMW-Farm-Limited_080512.pdf (accessed 6 April 2017)

Links:

http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/Judicial%20Decisions/PublishedByYear/Documents/2012/[2012]%20NICC%2017/j_j_2012NICC17Final.htm

Health and Safety Bulletin 410 p.6 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company without complex layers of management (although turnover 4 x that of Cotswold) – company director was present at the time of the accident and was operating the fork lift truck. Circa 60 employees.

First N. Irish case and largest fine imposed in relation to health and safety offences (at that time at least).

Death in November 2010.

An employee, Mr Wilson ,was washing the inside of a large metal bin which was positioned on the forks of a forklift truck

He jumped onto the side of the bin which then toppled and fell to the ground with the bin falling on top of him resulting in his death.

The position of the forks on the replacement truck did not correspond with the position of the sleeves on the bin and therefore the bin was unstable.

The Court was told that this represented an “inherent and foreseeable danger” to anyone working in the area around the bin.

The Court was told that the company was aware of such a danger.

It had carried out a risk assessment but no assessment was made of the position of the forks of the replacement truck and the sleeves on the bin.

Director was driving the forklift truck at the time.

CM

Guilty

Pleaded guilty

Fined £187,500 (reduced by 25% to reflect the guilty plea). The company was allowed 6 months to pay the fine and the costs of the prosecution

Note the fine was significantly less than in 1^st case despite much higher turnover (30 September 2011 the company’s profits after taxation amounted to £1,379,737.00). Dividends were declared of £200,000.00

£13,000.00 plus 20% VAT)

-

Gross negligence manslaughter was considered at an early point but later dropped prior to the trial, following a guilty plea on behalf of the company.[1]

2

R. v Lion Steel Equipment Ltd Unreported July 20, 2012 (Crown Ct (Manchester))

https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/Judgments/hhj-gilbart-qc-sentence-remarksr-v-lion-steel.pdf

https://www.dwf.law/news-events/dwf-press/2012/08/starvp-lion-steel-lessons-from-the-third-corporate-manslaughter-prosecution/

Health and Safety Bulletin 412 p.20 (Lexis Nexis)

Company.

Medium sized company. Larger than previous 2 companies.  Turnover of over around £10 million 2008-2011. Around 140 employees.

Arguably though still nothing like the size of organisation that were the real targets of the changes in the law. Also senior management test not clarified because of guilty plea.

An employee died when he fell through the roof of an industrial unit on 29 May 2008.

The prosecution’s evidence against Lion Steel was made up of alleged failings in the company’s internal documentation.  Unusually however, the prosecution relied heavily on correspondence with its Insurers, Insurance Brokers, Risk Mangers and Safety Consultants detailing health and safety concerns at the company over a period stretching back 6 years from the date of Mr Berry’s death. During cross examination, a director of the company’s Insurance Brokers admitted that the warnings given to companies in relation to health and safety weaknesses are often “hyped up” to encourage companies to give more emphasis to issues identified. Evidence only allowed in so far as it was relevant for determining a gross breach after the Act came into force.

CM

S. 2 HSWA 1974

Breach of work at Height Regulations 2005 and therefore an offence was alleged under s. 33 of the HSWA 1974.

Note the CM charge was severed from the other charges and the charges against the directors at a preparatory hearing to avoid confusion. The death had occurred only shortly after the introduction of the Act and the Act is not retrospective. This was different to the other offences and raised issues about what evidence could be put forward.

Guilty of CM

HSWA 1974 charge left to lie on file

Pleaded guilty to CM (part- way through trial).

N.B there was an earlier plea before trial but it was rejected by P because it was made on the basis that the charges against the directors be dropped and the P wished to pursue g them

The company was fined £480,000 (payable over 3 years)  

20% reduction for guilty plea

Court imposed a lesser fine in light of Lion Steel's guilty plea and the possibility that a larger fine might imperil Lion Steel's business and the employment of its remaining 142 staff. It was also noted that though the company was in profit, it had substantial loans, the directors were not paying themselves extravagant salaries, and shareholders had not received a dividend for three years.

£84,000 in costs payable within 2 years.

The judge reduced the P's claimed costs of £140,000 to £84,00 noting that the time spent in preparati was excessive and some things had been unnecesaary.

No publicity order or remedial order was sought by the P. (although note the provisions on publicity orders were in force but did not apply to an offence committed before 15 February 2010).

No compensation order was made. Judge commented that this should be dealt with through the civil courts.

Three of the company’s directors were charged with gross negligence manslaughter. The judge ruled there was no case to answer in respect of two of the charges.

All three were  also charged under section 37 HSWA. The judge rules there was no case to answer on one of the charges.

The judge was critical of the P pursuing some of the individual charges.

The remaining charges against the directors were dropped in return for Lion Steel pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter.  

3

(2^nd company to be charged, 3^rd to actually be convicted)

2013

Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland v J Murray & Son Ltd Unreported October 2013 (Crown Ct (NI))

[2013] NICC 15 (transcript) (Lexis)

Health and Safety Bulletin 424 p.1 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

A small company that was loss making, having been unable to generate operating profits for the last four years. The accountant explained the company had been unable to meet its substantial short-term liabilities and total assets were estimated as £33,000. 16 employees

Murray & Sons Ltd, a Northern Ireland company that owned an animal feed mixing plant

Charges were brought in relation to the death of an employee.  Mr Porter was killed when he was pulled into an animal feed mixing machine on 28 February 2012.

Investigations had shown that the mixing machine had been operated for three years without safety guards.

CM

Guilty

Pleaded guilty to CM

Fined £100,00

The company was allowed to pay the fine by annual instalments of £20,000 in light of the company's financial situation.

£10,450 costson or before 1 June 2014.

No publicity order or remedial order.

No compensation order was made. Judge commented that this should be dealt with through the civil courts.

Gross negligence manslaughter proceedings against James Murray, the director and owner of the company, did not proceed in exchange for guilty plea of company

4

R. v Prince's Sporting Club Ltd Unreported November 22, 2013 (Crown Ct (Southwark))

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/london_sports_club_sentenced_for_corporate_manslaughter/ (accessed 7 April 2017)

Health and Safety Bulletin 426 p.15 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company without a complex

management structure and with a director who had

significant day-to-day involvement in the business.  Has since closed down.

The charges relate to the death of an 11 year old girl who died from falling from a banana boat ride and being hit by the boat that had been towing it on 11 September 2010.

CM

S 3 HSWA 1974 (left to lie on the file in light of CM guilty plea)

Guilty of CM charge

Pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter

 £134,579 within 28 days

Which amounted to all of its assets. N.B company had ceased trading at time of sentencing.

N.b. some reports indicate the fine was £34,579  with costs of £100,000. This is not what the CPS publicity indicates though.

-

(although note comment to left)

Yes – first time a publicity order was made in a case.

Company had ceased trading so purpose of publicity order was presumably to serve as a warning to other businesses.[2]

A charge against a director of the company under s 37 HSWA 1974 was discharged in light of company’s guilty plea

5

2014

R. v Mobile Sweepers (Reading) Ltd Unreported February 26, 2014 (Crown Ct (Winchester))

Health and Safety Bulletin 427 p.2 and 428 p.14 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company with limited assets

Company charged with corporate manslaughter in relation to the death of employee, Malcolm Hinton,  in 2012 at Riddings Farm.

Mr Hinton died from crush injuries after working on a repair underneath a road-sweeping truck.

CM

s 2 of the HSWA 1974 (not pursued in light of guilty pleas)

Offence under regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (not pursued in light of guilty pleas)

Guilty of CM

Pleaded guilty to CM (n.b in this case that did not result in a droping of all charges against director)

Yes. Company fined £8,000 (an amount when taken with costs which reflected the £12,000 worth of assets that the company had).

Judge noted that if the if the company had a larger turnover, the fine would have been greater and closer to £1 million

£4,000

Publicity order

Company’s sole director charged with gross negligence manslaughter, an  offence under s 2 of the HSWA 1974 and an offence under regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations

The gross negligence manslaughter charge and the offence under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations were not pursued in light of guilty pleas

The director pleaded guilty to the HSWA 1974 offence, was fined £183,000 plus £8,000 costs within 12 months (or face jail), and was disqualified as a director for five years.

6

R v Cavendish Masonry Limited

22 May 2014

http://2harecourt.newsweaver.com/regulatorycrimenewsletter/i89gsttc5ck

Health and Safety Bulletin 435 p.7 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company – in effect a single hands on director

Death of an employee who was crushed by the fall of a limestone block while building a wall on February 9, 2010.

CM

S. 2(1) HSWA 1974

Guilty of both offences

Trial

(early guilty plea in respect of the HSWA offence)

£150,000 payable within 5 years

(not clear from reporting if an element of the fine was in light of H&S offence)

A larger fine was not imposed as it was in the public interest to keep the company going

£87,117.

-

-

7

 R. v PS & JE Ward Ltd Unreported June 6, 2014 (Crown Ct (Norwich))

(4^th company to be charged)

Company

Small company with less than 50 employees

The charges related to the death of an employee, in July 2010, from an electric shock caused when the metal hydraulic lift trailer he was towing touched an overhead power line.

Reasons for acquittal may have included the fact that an investigation by Norfolk Police and the HSE found that the day before the incident, one of the company’s directors, Peter Ward, had taken the trailer to the field and performed the same task.  There was no evidence Pieton (the employee killed) was following instructions from Ward when he repeated the task. He appears to have acted on his own initiative.   The prosecution also alleged Pieton was not trained to work under power lines but during the trial it emerged he had attended a training course for forklift truck drivers that covered working under live cables.

Did lack of individual charges make it harder to establish CM offence?[3]

CM

S. 2(1) HSWA 1974

Acquitted of CM.

Convicted of HSWA offence and fined £50,000 plus costs of £47,932

The first case of a company to be acquitted of CM charges brought under the Act.

Trial

(12 day trial)

N/A (acquittal)

N/A (acquittal)

N/A (acquittal)

-

-

R V MNS Mining Limited (2014)

19 June 2014

http://www.kennedyslaw.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Health%20and%20Safety/Kennedys%20-%20Defending%20corporate%20manslaughter.pdf (accessed 6 April 2017)

Company

Small company.

In January 2013 MNS Mining Limited was charged with four counts of corporate manslaughter in relation to the deaths of four employees. Small company.

4 miners died at a mine in the Swansea Valley on 15 September 2011 when the mine became flooded and four men died

The prosecution claimed that when the mine manager Malcolm Fyfield ordered a coal face to be blasted he had not adequately checked if there was a body of water in the old mine workings behind it. But he insisted he had done safety inspections of the area, including one on the day before the tragedy.

Malcolm Fyfield, was down the mine at the time it became flooded. He apparently escaped after burrowing out through a tiny tunnel and was airlifted to hospital

Prosecution does not appear to have been able to convince the jury that Mr Fyfield failed to carry out the required safety check. Emphasises the fact the the Act has failed to move away from the focus on individual fault. The guilt of the company was inextricably linked to the guilt of the mine manager.

Did not answer questions about the interpretation of the senior management test because mine manager was clearly a senior manager.

4 counts of CM (first case to involve multiple deaths)

Acquitted

Trial

(3 months)

N/A (acquittal)

N/A (acquittal)

N/A (acquittal)

Malcolm Fyfield was charged with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter but  was acquitted

-           

R. v Sterecycle (Rotherham) Ltd Unreported November 7, 2014 (Crown Ct (Sheffield))

Health and Safety Bulletin 434 p.1 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company, circa 50 employees.

The company was charged with corporate manslaughter following the death of an employee in an explosion in January 2011. Systematic failings in health and safety were reportedly to blame.

The company (now in administration) was found guilty at trial. 

CM

Guilty

Trial

(month long)

£500,000 (first fine at the level recommended by sentencing guidelines)

Company was in administration at the time of the prosecution and was not represented at the trial.

-

-

Three senior members of staff were charged

with  offences under s. 7 HSWA 1974 not pursued by prosecution.

8

Health and Safety Executive v A. Diamond & Son (Timber) Ltd Unreported February 3, 2015 (Crown Ct (NI))

Pleaded guilty 17 December 2014 Sentenced in January 2016

Company

Family run business with 50 employees

The company had pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter in connection with the death of an employee in a saw mill on 27 September 2012.

CM

Guilty

Pleaded guilty

£75,000 payable over 5 years.

Judge took into account the firm’s recent profit and loss figures and the fact that it had debt in excess of £1.4 million.

£15,832

-

-

9

2015

R. v Pyranha Mouldings Ltd Unreported January 12, 2015 (Crown Ct (Liverpool))

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/pyranha_mouldings_ltd/

Health and Safety Bulletin 438 p.2 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

90-100 employees

The company is a canoe and kayak manufacturer and the charge arose from the death of an employee in an industrial oven on 23 December 2010.

There had been no risk assessments and staff had not received suitable training on how to use the new ovens and there were no written instructions on cleaning and maintenance.

CM

2(1) of the HSWA 1974

Failing to ensure the safety of an article designed, manufactured and supplied for use at work pursuant to section 6(1)(a) of the HSWA 1974

Guilty of all charges

Trial

(5 weeks)

£200,000

Costs against the two defendants jointly in the total sum of £90,000.  

-

Offences under the HSWA 1974 were dropped against the company's managing director and engineer, but the technical director who had designed the oven was convicted under s. 33 and s. 37 HSWA 1974 Act,  fined £25,000 and given a nine month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

10

Health and Safety Executive v Peter Mawson Ltd Unreported February 3, 2015 (Crown Ct (Preston))

Health and Safety Bulletin 437 p.2 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company – 12-18 staff

The offences related to a 2011 incident in which an employee had fallen through a skylight and been killed when working on a roof.

CM

s.2(1) HSWA 1974

Guilty

Guilty (pleaded guilty to CM)

Yes. £200,000 for the corporate manslaughter offence, and £20,000 for a breach of health and safety legislation.

One third reduction for all sentences for guilty plea.

£31,504.77

Yes. A publicity order was made

The company owner who had pleaded guilty to s.37(1) of the HSW Act was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years and 200 hours of unpaid work.

The owner had originally been charged with gross negligence manslaughter, but this was replaced with the s.37(1) charge after his company agreed to plead guilty to corporate manslaughter.

11

G&J Crothers Ltd

Company

An employee died when he fell from a roof he was working on.

CM

Health and safety offence

Not guilty of CM offence which was left to lie on file. Admitted health and safety offence.

Fined £22,500 in relation to health and safety offence plus costs.

N/A

N/A

-

-

Dieci Limited and Nicole Enterprises Limited (2015)

Unusually not reported in health and safety press.

Reported in normal press though http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-31858010

Company

An employee was killed when a static caravan fell on him.

Northern Irish case.

CM

Health and safety charge of charge of breaching health and safety regulations by failing to properly assess risks posed to employees

Guilty

Nicole Enterpirses pleaded guilty to CM and health and safety charge.

 Dieci Ltd, he pleaded not guilty to CM and to a further charge of breaching health and safety regulations by failing to properly assess risks posed to employees

£100,000

-

-

Director acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter charge.

12

Health and Safety Executive v Huntley Mount Engineering Ltd unreported 14 July 2015 (Crown Ct (Manchester))

Young apprentice was victim of corporate manslaughter – 442 Health and Safety Bulletin 15 (Lexis Nexis)

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/huntley_mount_engineering_ltd/ (accessed 7 April 2017)

Company

Small company, the 2 most senior managers played a clear role in the offence.

It employed approx. 6 young workers

A 16 year old employee (apprentice) dragged into steel cutting machine when his overalls became caught on 8 January 2013 .

The court hears there was no safety regime at the engineering company. Staff were left untrained and unsupervised and safety guards had been removed from machinery.

CM

Health and Safety etc. Act 1974 ss.2(1) and 7

Guilty

Pleaded Guilty to

£150,000 for CM offence payable over 6 years. 65.4% of turnover.  Company does not appear to have been convicted of H&S offence, possibly because of guilty plea in relation to CM.

Lime People Training Solutions Ltd. (the agency involved in arranging the apprenticeship) was found guilty of an offence under s.3(1) of the HSWA 1974 after a three day trial and  fined £75,000 and £25,000 in costs for putting apprentice into a dangerous work environment.

-

-

The company's sole director was charged with s.37(1) of the HSW Act 1974 and pleaded guilty. He received an immediate custodial sentence of 8 months’ imprisonment and was disqualified from being a company director for 10 years.

First time since the Act was introduced that an individual has actually gone to prison on sentencing.

A supervisor  was charged with an offence under s.7(a) of the HSWA 1974 was sentenced to 4 months’ imprisonment  suspended for 12 months and ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and given a £3,000 fine

Both individuals appear to have originally been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

13

R. v CAV Aerospace Ltd unreported 31 July 2015 (Central Crim Ct)

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/cav_aerospace_ltd_convicted_of_corporate_manslaughter/

442 Health and Safety Bulletin 9  (Lexis Nexis)

Company

The company prosecuted was the parent company, rather than the subsidiary company whose premises the accident occurred on 26 January 2013.

It is the largest company to be convicted of corporate manslaughter to date (460 employees and an annual turnover in excess of £73 million in 2013

Medium–large corporate defendant (over 500 employees) with a complex corporate structure

Involved the fatal crushing of an employee of a subsidiary company (warehouse operative) by stacks of aircraft-grade metal billets.

CAV Aerospace is based in Consett, County Durham.

The incident had occurred at Cambridge airport at a site operated by CAV Aerospace’s wholly owned subsidiary company, CAV Cambridge. The parent company acted as the guarantor for the subsidiary company including for the lease of the Cambridge site and had purchased the machinery at the site out of its own funds. The subsidiary company had no real control over what orders it received.

See management diagram below (simplified).

The sole director of CAV Cambridge (also a director of the parent company often ignored emails from the general manager of CAV Cambridge).

The investigation found that managers at Cambridge had raised the unsafe situation with senior management at CAV Aerospace several times during the three years preceding the fatal incident.

Further the Health and Safety Consultant had warned MCFarlane of the danger posed by the billets in strong terms.

Some of the most obvious solutions were rejected on cost grounds and CAV Aerospace did not appear to agree it had a duty of care to the employees of CAV Cambridge.

CM

(s.3(1) and s. 33(1) of the HSWA 1974 (because the risk was to employees of its subsidiary company, not its own employees)

Guilty

Trial

The firm was fined £600,000 (CM) and £400,000 for H&S offences payable concurrently within 28 days.

Judge ultimately decided not to consider cost cutting an aggravating factor (he decided the evidence was neutral). The judge held that the factors that most aggravated the offence were the lengthy duration of the failures, the level of the failures and the failures to heed warnings.

The judge considered that there were mitigating factors (cooperation with the investigation, remedial action, payments to the deceased’s family (over and above any insurance pay out, a good safety record

£125,000

No publicity or remedial order but the judge did not give any reasons.

-

14

                                            Owen McFarlane (sole director of CAV Cambridge/CEO of parent company, CAV Aerospace)      

Health and Safety Executive v Linley Developments Ltd unreported 24 September 2015 (Crown Ct (St Albans))

444 Health and Safety Bulletin 9

 Company

Very small building firm.

• Employee died when a wall fell on him as he dug a trench that exposed its foundations.
•  
• Linley Developments did not carry out a risk assessment of the excavation.
• Managing director Trevor Hyatt ignored advice to underpin the wall.

CM

CPS FOI request response suggests H&S charges were also brought against the company but the company only appears to have been guilty of the CM offence. [4]

Guilty

Pleaded guilty to CM charge

The company was fined £200,000 (payable over [5] years)

£25,000

Yes. Publicity order

Managing Director was fined £25,000 and made to pay costs of £7,500 and project manager ordered to pay costs of £5,000 relating to breach of regulations 28 and 31 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. Suspended 6 month prison sentences each.

Gross negligence manslaughter charges against the directors were dropped after they pleaded guilty to  Construction Regulations breaches.

The judge had considered disqualifying one of the directors but said he did not believe it was “necessary” to do so.

15

Health and Safety Executive v Kings Scaffolding Limited unreported 12 October 2015 (Crown Ct (Liverpool))

http://www.ppconstructionsafety.com/newsdesk/2015/10/13/corporate-manslaughter-firm-fined-300000/

Company

Doesn’t appear to be a particularly large company.

Employee died in 2012 after falling while working on the roof of the Kings Scaffolding Netherley headquarters on 13 September 2012.

Company failed to heed health and safety warnings.

CM

Guilty

Pleaded guilty

£300,000 (payable over 10 years). Judge said in imposing the £300,000 fine he had to balance the need to punish the company against the risk of punishing innocent employees who would lose their jobs if the company went out of business

£29,120

-

-

16

Health and Safety Executive v Baldwins Crane Hire Ltd unreported December 2015 (Crown Ct (Preston))

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/corporate_manslaughter_charge_for_death_of_crane_driver/

446 Health and Safety Bulletin 19 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

One of the larger companies to be convicted. 181 members of staff and a turnover in excess of £22 million during the year to 31 March 2015. Still no real exploration of senior management test though. Clear senior management failings.

Employee killed when the brakes on the crane he was driving failed on  15 August 2011.

The company had failed to ensure it ensure its crane fleet was effectively serviced and maintained.

CM

S 2 and 3 HSWA 1974

Guilty

Trial

(month long)

£700, 000.  

The judge did not impose a separate penalty for the HSWA 1974 Act convictions.

£200,000

Ordered to pay all CPS costs and half of the Health and Safety Executive's costs

Yes – publicity order

-           

17

Health and Safety Executive v Cheshire Gates & Automation Ltd unreported 17 November 2015 (Crown Ct (Manchester))

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/company_sentenced_for_corporate_manslaughter_after_six_year_old_girl_dies/

446 Health and Safety Bulletin 19 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Very small company

Six year old girl became trapped in electronic gate outside her home on 28 June 2010. Safety measures had not been put in place.

Sole director was personally involved in the installation of the gate together with an employee and had effectively overridden a safety programme that would have prevented the accident. They had not read the instruction manuals.

CM

Guilty

Pleaded guilty

£50,000. Judge David Stockdale QC allowed that the fine be paid in instalments of £8,000 per year and also made.

No

Yes – publicity order

The director was charged with gross negligence manslaughter but offered no evidence and he was acquitted (presumably because the company pleaded guilty).

18

2016

New Sentencing Guidelines became effective from 1 February 2016

Health and Safety Executive v Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust unreported 28 January 2016

http://www.manslaughterandhealthcare.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/R-v.-Cornish-and-Maidstone-Tunbridge-Wells-Ruling-2016-1.pdf

NHS Trust

A woman died following a  caesarean section on 9 October 2012 .

After delivery the woman suffered a haemorrhage and needed surgery. The surgery appearer to go well but there were then complications and it was alleged that the treatment she had received had not been adequate to ensure her oxygen levels remained high enough. She suffered from severe bleeding and had a heart attack and died. The CPS argued that a finding of gross negligence against either of the doctors would have indicated that Trust had employed someone that it knew, or should have known, was not suitably qualified for the role.

The judge acknowledged that the woman should not have died but held there were no systematic failures and that the woman’s statistics had not indicated that she needed immediate inturbation.

Innocent. Charges dismissed as no case to answer (against company and one of the doctors).

Judge held no case to answer after a fortnight of evidence.

N/A (acquittal)

N/A (acquittal)

N/A (acquittal)

A consultant anaesthetist was cleared of gross negligence manslaughter.

Following the acquittals the CPS said it had not decided whether or not to continue gross negligence manslaughter proceedings against a second anaesthetist who was not on trial because he had gone to Pakistan.

-

Health and Safety Executive v Sherwood Rise Ltd unreported February 2016

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/sentencing_for_first_corporate_manslaughter_conviction_relating_to_a_care_home/

Company

Micro company

Sherwood Rise was a care home and an 86 year old woman died after she was found dehydrated, malnourished and with an untreated bed sore (she died after being removed from the home). Appalling failures by the home. During her 48 day stay in the home the lady had lost half her body weight and there was no care plan in place for her.

All residents  were ‘rescued’ from the care home.

CM

HSWA 1974 (not pursued in light of guilty plea?)

Guilty of CM

Pleaded guilty

£300,000

First sentenced under new guidelines.

£41,500

-

A director also admitted causing the death of an elderly resident through gross negligence manslaughter. He was also guilty of a HSWA 1974 offence.

First case under the Act in which the company and an individual have been guilty of manslaughter.  

He was sentenced to 38 months imprisonment for manslaughter by gross negligence and disqualified for 8 years. The judge did not impose a separate penalty for the HSWA 1974 offence.

The manager of the care home (also a director) was convicted of a s.37(1) HSWA 1974 offence  and sentenced to one year's imprisonment suspended for two years and disqualified as a director for five years.

19

McGoldrick Enterprises Ltd (2016)

Company

Death of an elderly care home patient.

Northern Irish case.

CM

Health and safety offence.

Not guilty of CM offence.

Pleaded guilty to health and safety breach and fined £18,279 including costs.

-           

N/A

N/A

N/A

-

-

R. v Monavon Construction Ltd unreported 27 June 2016 (Central Crim Ct)

Company

Small company with annual turnover of around £500,000.

Two members of the public had been drinking when they got into a fight and fell four metres (13ft) through the building site's perimeter hoarding on 19 October 2013.

The hoarding was not sufficiently sturdy and was described as an accident waiting to happen.

CM (two counts)

S3 HSWA 1974.

Guilty

Company pleaded guilty to all charges.

£500,000 specifically for the CM charges

£50,000 in relation to the HSWA 1974 charge.

£23,653 to be paid within 6 months

-

-

20

R. v Bilston Skips Ltd unreported 16 August 2016 (Crown Ct (Wolverhampton))

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/failed_company_and_its_manager_convicted/

452 Health and Safety Bulletin 2 (Lexis Nexis)

Company

Small company.

An employee died of head injuries on 28 June 2012 at Bilston Skips in Bilston Road after falling from a skip.

Judge said owner allowed a woeful and inadequate system of work where there were significant failures to segregate workers from plant machinery. No record of any Health and Safety qualified individual on site.Director confirmed he had no health and safety training and there was no system in place to report or record any incidents.

Company is now in liquidation.

CM

s.2 HSWA 1974

Guilty (convicted in its absence)

Trial

(12 day trial)

£600,000

Health and Safety Bulletin suggests that the judge imposed fines for the CM and H&S offence to run ‘concurrently’ which in effect means only one fine of £600,000 would be paid but notionally 2 x fines of £600,000 were imposed.[5]

Joint second highest of the 20 fines that have been imposed for corporate manslaughter, even though the offender was small in size and in liquidation.

Neither the CPS nor the HSE was aware of the harm culpability and severity categories into which the judge placed the offences under the Sentencing Council's guideline.

-

-

The company’s manager (not a director) was also found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years.

At the start of the trial he pleaded guilty to a s. 37 HSWA 1974 offence.

He was also directed to personally pay costs of £10,000 and disqualified from being a director of a company for ten years.

21

2017

Health and Safety Executive v SR and RJ Brown unreported 16 March 2017 (Crown Ct (Manchester))

459 Health and Safety Bulletin 9-12.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-39294384

Construction Company – micro. Directors played an active role in events leading to the death. 13 employees and four directors. Turnover below £2 million.

An employee slipped and fell to his death while working as part of a team stripping metal sheets off the roof of a disused steel shed that was being dismantled. 

There was no proper risk assessment or method statement for the work and there was an absence of safeguards that would have prevented, or mitigated the effects of, a fall, including scaffolding, harnesses, netting or a fall restraint system. 

The conviction for perverting the course of justice relates to an attempt following the accident to ‘cover up’ the circumstances of the death and pretend that additional safety precautions were in place. A harness was brought to the site and placed to suggest the deceased had taken it off when this was a falsehood,

SR & RJ Brown:

CM

Offences under the Work at Height Regulations 2005

s.2(1) and s.3(1) offences -not proceeded with in the light of the corporate manslaughter plea

MA Excavations:

s.3(1) of the HSWA Act

Reg. 13 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007).

Guilty

Company pleaded guilty

(defendants collectively pleaded guilty to a total of 14 charges)

£300,000 (reduced by 25% on account of the guilty plea).  The offence was categorised as category A. the fine is within the category range (£270,000 - £800,000) but below the starting point £450,000.

No separate fine was imposed in respect of the Work at Height Regulations.

Another company,  MA Excavations (the principal contractor), was fined £150,000 for health and safety offence.

£15,833

Yes – publicity order imposed

Two directors of SR and RJ Brown were imprisoned for health and safety offences  ( (s.2(1), s . 3 and s. 37(1) HSWA.and for perverting the course of justice. They received prison sentences of 20 months each in total.

A director of the principal contractor was also sent to jail for 12 months for health and safety offences. (s.37(1) of the HSW Act)

The director of a third company received a 4 month prison term  suspended for 2 years for his his involvement in perverting the course of justice.

Two gross negligence manslaughter charges were left to lie on file.

22

Health and Safety Executive v Koseoglu Metal works Ltd unreported 19 May 2017 (Crown Ct (Chelmsford))

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/company-directors-jailed-following-/

Two companies. Micro organisations.

Note though that   Ozdil UK, which operates from the same address as Ozdil Investments and shared some of the same directors until disqualification and termination, made a pre-tax profit of £725,813 on a turnover of £21,920,332 in 2015.

Ozdil Investments Ltd was the owner of a.  warehouse which needed repairs. Both the HSE and Harlow District Council issued warnings to the company about the dangers involved in the repair work and specifically the need for safety measures such as netting to be put in place.

 Ozdil Investments engaged Koseoglu Metal Work (a friend’s company) to carry out the roofing work, rather than a competent contractor. Koseoglu Metalworks Ltd did not have had any experience of roofing work and its workers were not trained in carrying out the work involved.

Advice and warnings were ignored and  work was commenced without having appointed a CDM coordinator or safety netting to mitigate the risk to workers of falls from height. Ozdil Investments had received a prohibition notice relating to work at height on the same roof previously.

The judge said the companies and their directors had not provided any risk assessments, paperwork, scaffolding, running lines, safety boards, harnesses and safety nets, even though they “had been told” to do so. Nor had they shown remorse at the time of Mr Valkov's death

Ozdil Investments:

CM

S. 3(1) HSWA

Koseoglu Metal Work:

CM

S. 2(1) HSWA

Both companies guilty of CM and health and safety offences

First case where two companies have simultaneously been convicted of CM

Trial (4 weeks)

Note Ozdil denied charges whilst Koseoglu pleaded guilty to corportae manslaughter.

Ozdil Investments:

 £500,000 for corporate manslaughter and £160,000 for s.3(1) of the HSW Act).

Koseoglu Metal Work: £300,000 for corporate manslaughter and £100,000 for(s.2(1) of the HSW Act).

Both offences were category A. The fines were within the category range (£270,000 to £800,000).Ozdil’s fine was above the starting point but Koseoglu’s fine was £50,000 below it.

Ozdil - £53,115

Koseoglu Metal Work: £21,236 costs;

No publicity order.

Three directors charged with health and safety Act offences.

One was imprisoned for one year – s. 37 HSWA and disqualified as a director for 10 years. Denied offence.

One was imprisoned for 10 months – s. 37 HSWA and disqualified as a director. Denied offence.

One was imprisoned for 8 months – s. 37 HSWA and disqualified as a director for 10 years. Admitted offence.

23 and 24

Health and Safety Executive v Martinisation (London) Ltd unreported 19 May 2017 (Central Crim Ct)

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/company_charged_with_corporate_manslaughter_after_the_death_of_two_employees/

http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/firm-guilty-of-manslaughter-over-lo/

Consturction company

In November 2014, two employees fell from a first floor balcony as they tried to hoist a sofa up from the pavement.

The victims were not provided with a plan, method statement or risk assessment prior to the task being undertaken, thereby exposing them to the risk of serious harm.

The expectation was for the workmen to use a rope to haul a sofa over a balustrade and into a first floor apartment.

Advice from an experienced and reputable lifting company on how to carry out the process safely was ignored due to time and budgetary constraints. The building project was very overbudget.

The company appears to have had a poor health and safety track record.

CM (two counts)

2 health and safety offences

Guilty of all charges

Trial

Sentencing to take place on 7 July 2017

TBC

TBC

Director charged with s. 33(1) amd 71(a) HSWA . Found guilty of all charges.

25

Potential cases

Hamerton Zoo death

Woman eaten by a lion on Monday 29^th May 2017.

Grenfell tower fire

Crane collapse deaths

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40356335

Two deaths following a crane collapse in Crewe in June 2017.