Briefing: First conviction for corporate manslaughter

Abstract

On 15 February 2011, Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) Limited became the first company to be convicted of corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The conviction came two and a half years after Alexander Wright, a junior geologist and employee of the company, was killed when taking soil samples from the inside of an excavated pit. Cotswold Geotechnical was fined £385 000, which amounted to 115% of its turnover for the year of the accident, to be payable over 10 years. This was notwithstanding the fact that the sentencing judge considered that the fine and payment plan might well cause the company’s liquidation. Mr Justice Field said that this was an unfortunate, but unavoidable, consequence of the serious breach. The Court of Appeal agreed and refused the company’s application for permission to appeal against conviction and sentence. The Lord Chief Justice stated that a fine that the company could pay would have resulted in a ‘ludicrous’ penalty and confirmed that, ‘in some cases, putting the company out of business may be inevitable; the £385 000 fine, despite the company’s dire financial position, was appropriate’. The case sheds light on a number of aspects of the new law, not least in relation to the approach of the court to sentencing. However, it remains to be seen whether the Act will lead to the successful prosecution of larger organisations.