Test Case for Corporate Manslaughter
26 August 2009
The date for the first trial under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has been set for 23rd February 2010.
The Company’s Director became the first man to face court under a tough new corporate manslaughter law after he was charged over a young geologist’s mudslide death. The employee was gathering soil samples in a trench which collapsed and killed him in Stroud last September.
The charge, relating to the death on 5th September 2009 alleges that the Director’s company “because of the way in which the organisation’s activities were managed or organised, caused the death of a person, by gross negligence, which amounted to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed to the deceased, contrary to section one of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007”.
The Director also faces a second, similar charge of killing by gross negligence on the same date, under common law.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into effect a year ago and under the Act an organisation can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care to the person who died. In addition a substantial part of the breach must have been in the way activities were organised by senior management.
One aspect of the case is of interest if the corporate killing charge succeeds will be how the judge sets the penalty. The offence carries the potential for an unlimited fine, but the Sentencing Guidelines Council is not expected to produce guidance for judges before the end of the year. Draft guidance published in 2007, and now being revised, suggested fines of between 5% and 10% of a convicted company's turnover.
We would advise all clients to regularly conduct and review risk assessments, particularly on activities that are inherently high risk.