Company sentenced in first corporate manslaughter case

The first company to be convicted of an offence under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 was sentenced today. Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd (CGH) was this afternoon fined £385,000, following its conviction for corporate manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court on 15 February.

Alex Wright was a 27-years-old geologist working for CGH when he died on 5 September 2008. He was investigating soil conditions in a deep trench on a development plot in Stroud when it collapsed and killed him.

The company was charged following his death and the prosecution held that the company's system of work in conducting soil investigation using trial pits was obviously unnecessarily dangerous. They argued that the company had breached health and safety legislation and ignored well-recognised industry guidance.

Berrymans Lace Mawer partner, Helen Devery said: “After many years of discussion and debate the new Act has finally come of age with its first conviction. An appeal may be pending but the size of the fine will be a warning shot to all organisations that safety must not be compromised.

“Although the fine is less than the starting point of £500,000 recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC) it will no doubt have a dramatic impact on a company of this size, reflecting the trend towards harsher penalties. The size of the fine is intended to make a significant impact on any organisation and whilst CGH may have had a modest turnover, larger and more profitable organisations, successfully convicted, can expect fines well above the SGC’s £500,000 starting point.”

Weightmans partner Chris Green, said:” The Corporate Manslaughter Act was designed primarily to target large multi-national companies that hadn’t been touched by previous manslaughter laws but it has been drafted so that it was wide enough to bring smaller companies like Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd within its remit.

“This case is a wake up call for smaller businesses; the Act can lead to convictions for virtually any company or corporate body, not just those big names that have previously been seen as ‘escaping’ prosecution.”