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GREAT BRITAIN

GREAT BRITAIN Criminal liability of companies - manslaughter HEADNOTES Facts The defendant, a private company incorporated under the Companies Acts, held a franchise to operate passenger train services in a particular geo- graphical area of the United Kingdom. One of its trains was involved in a col- lision with another train, in which seven people died and 150 were injured. The collision was due partly to the inadvertence of the driver, who allowed the train to proceed through a succession of warning signals, and partly to the facts that there was only one person in the driving cab and that the automatic warning and braking systems, which should have been triggered by the warn- ing signals, had been switched off. During the trial, the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to conduct its undertaking in such a way that members of the public were not exposed to risks to their health and safety. This was an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The com- pany was fined £1.5 million in respect of this offence. However, it was found not guilty on a charge of manslaughter by gross negligence, a common law offence. The prosecuting http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Labour Law Reports Online Brill

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
eISSN
2211-6028
DOI
10.1163/221160200X00385
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Criminal liability of companies - manslaughter HEADNOTES Facts The defendant, a private company incorporated under the Companies Acts, held a franchise to operate passenger train services in a particular geo- graphical area of the United Kingdom. One of its trains was involved in a col- lision with another train, in which seven people died and 150 were injured. The collision was due partly to the inadvertence of the driver, who allowed the train to proceed through a succession of warning signals, and partly to the facts that there was only one person in the driving cab and that the automatic warning and braking systems, which should have been triggered by the warn- ing signals, had been switched off. During the trial, the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to conduct its undertaking in such a way that members of the public were not exposed to risks to their health and safety. This was an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The com- pany was fined £1.5 million in respect of this offence. However, it was found not guilty on a charge of manslaughter by gross negligence, a common law offence. The prosecuting

Journal

International Labour Law Reports OnlineBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1999

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