Corporate Manslaughter Case Adjourned

The first prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has been pending for some time and is eagerly awaited as it will provide guidance in practical terms on the likely level of fines in such cases, following the issue of sentencing guidelines in February 2010.

The case, which involves the death of a young geological engineer and which was due to start at the end of February, has been postponed until September owing to the ill health of the Managing Director of the company.

The Act allows the court to levy a fine on conviction which could, in principle, be unlimited. However, the sentencing guidelines state that ‘fines for companies and organisations found guilty of corporate manslaughter may be millions of pounds and should seldom be below £500,000. For other health and safety offences that cause death, fines from £100,000 up to hundreds of thousands of pounds should be imposed. In deciding the level of fine, account must be taken of the financial circumstances of the offending organisation.’