Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

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Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 [1]
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, variant 1).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to create a new offence that, in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, is to be called corporate manslaughter and, in Scotland, is to be called corporate homicide; and to make provision in connection with that offence.
Citation 2007 c. 19
Introduced by John Reid MP, Home Secretary (Commons)
Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Lords)
Territorial extent England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent 26 July 2007
Commencement 6 April 2008
Repealed—
Other legislation
Amended by—
Repealed by —
Relates to—
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to broaden the law on corporate manslaughter in the United Kingdom. The Act created a new offence respectively named corporate manslaughter in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and corporate homicide in Scotland.

Contents

The Act received the royal assent on 26 July 2007 and came into force on 6 April 2008. [2]

Background

In the United Kingdom, a corporation is considered a juristic person and can be capable of committing, being convicted of and sentenced for, a criminal offence. [3] However, some conceptual difficulty lies in fixing a corporation with the appropriate mens rea . [4] Before the Act, a corporation could only be convicted of manslaughter if a single employee of the company committed all the elements of the offence and was of sufficient seniority to be seen as embodying the "mind" of the corporation. [5] [6] The practical consequence of this was that such convictions were rare and there was public discontent where it was perceived that culpable corporations had escaped censure and punishment. [4]

A Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill was introduced to the House of Commons by Home Secretary John Reid on 20 July 2006. [7]

The Act

The offence

The Act attempts to align the offence of corporate killing north and south of the border. An indictable offence [8] is committed if the way in which an organisation's activities are managed or organised: [9]

—and the way in which its activities are managed or organised by its senior management is a substantial element in the breach. [10] Prosecution in England or Wales requires the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and in Northern Ireland, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland [11] and no natural person can be charged with aiding and abetting the offence. [12] In Scotland, all prosecutions are initiated by a procurator fiscal. [2] The common law offence of gross negligence manslaughter, as it applies to corporations, is abolished. [13]

Organisations liable

The offence applies to: [14]

Relevant duty of care

A relevant duty of care is one of several duties of care owed by the organisation under the law of negligence and is a question of law for the judge. [17] Various government policy decisions; [18] policing, [19] military [20] and child protection [21] activities; and emergency responses [22] are excluded.

There are particular duties of care owed to persons in custody (s. 2(1)(d)) and, owing to the sensitivity and difficulty of such duties, implementation of this section was delayed. The Ministry of Justice published a report on progress towards implementation in July 2008. [23]

Gross breach

A breach of a duty of care by an organisation is a gross breach if the alleged conduct amounts to a breach of that duty that falls far below what can reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances. [24] The jury must consider whether the evidence shows that the organisation failed to comply with any health and safety legislation that relates to the alleged breach, and if so: [25]

The jury may also: [25]

Senior management

Senior management means the persons who play significant roles in: [26]

Penalties

On conviction a corporation may be ordered to remedy any breach, [27] or to publicise its failures, [28] or be given an unlimited fine. [8] The Sentencing Council issued a steps based definitive guideline, effective from 1 February 2016, for sentencing the offence of corporate manslaughter. The recommendations of the guideline are based on the size and turnover of the organisations with a starting fine of £300,000 and a no limit maximum. [29] If an individual is also found liable for the offence of manslaughter, it can be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 ruled by the same sentencing guideline. [29]

Convictions

Company nameConviction dateVictim's nameCause of deathFine (plus costs)
1Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings [30] 15 February 2011Alex WrightGeologic trial pit collapse.£385,000
2JMW Farm Ltd [31] 8 May 2012Robert WilsonLarge metal bin fell off forklift and onto victim.£187,500
3Lion Steel Ltd [32] 3 July 2012Steven BerryFall through a factory roof.£480,000
4J Murray and Sons [33] 7 October 2013Norman PorterPulled into an animal feed mixing machine.£100,000
5Princes Sporting Club [34] 22 November 2013Mari-Simon CronjeEleven-year-old struck by speedboat.£135,000
6Mobile Sweepers (Reading) Ltd [35] 2 December 2013Malcolm HintonCrushed attempting to repair a street-sweeping truck.£8,000
7Cavendish Masonry Ltd [36] 22 May 2014David EvansBuilder crushed by a two-ton block of limestone.£150,000
8Sterecycle (Rotherham) Ltd [37] 7 November 2014Michael WhinfreyPlant explosion.£500,000
9A Diamond and Son (Timber) Ltd [38] 17 December 2014Peter LennonCrushed while carrying out machinery maintenance.£75,000
10Peter Mawson Ltd [39] 19 December 2014Jason PenningtonFell through a skylight while working on a roof.£200,000
11Pyranha Mouldings Ltd [40] 12 January 2015Alan CatterallAccidentally locked inside industrial oven.£200,000
12Nicole Enterprises [41] 12 March 2015Thomas HoustonCrushed by a static caravan.£100,000 [42]
13Kings Scaffolding [43] 28 April 2015Adrian SmithFell through a skylight.£300,000
14Huntley Mount Engineering Ltd [44] 14 July 2015Cameron MinshullSixteen-year-old apprentice became entangled on a lathe.£150,000
15CAV Aerospace Ltd [45] 24 July 2015Paul BowersCrushed by aircraft components.£600,000
16Linley Development Ltd [46] 7 September 2015Gareth JonesCrushed by wall collapse while excavating.£200,000 [47]
17Cheshire Gates and Automation Ltd [48] 7 September 2015Semelia CampbellTrapped in a faulty electric gate.£50,000
18Baldwins Crane Hire Ltd [49] 22 December 2015Lindsay EastonCrane crashed into an earth bank.£700,000
19Sherwood Rise Ltd [50] February 2016Ivy AtkinDied in a care home.£300,000
20Monavon Construction Ltd [51] June 2016Gavin Brewer and Stuart MeadsFell through roadside hoarding.£500,000
21Bilston Skips Ltd [52] August 2016Jagpal SinghFell from the top of a skip.£600,000
22SR and JR Brown Ltd [53] March 2017Benjamin EdgeFell from a roof.£300,000
23Koseoglu Metalworks Ltd [54] May 2017Nikolai ValkovFell through a skylight.£300,000
24Odzil Investments Ltd [54] £500,000
25Martinisation London Ltd [55] May 2017Tomasz Procko and Kyrol SzymanskiFell from a balcony when the railing was crushed by a sofa being lifted into a flat.£1,200,000
26Master Construction Products (Skips) Ltd [56] November 2017Safi Qais KhanCrushed by machinery.£255,000
27Deco-Pak [57] January 2022Andrew TibbottCrushed to death by a robotic packing arm.

References

  1. ↑ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 29 of this Act.
  2. 1 2 "Understanding the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
  3. ↑ Interpretation Act 1978, s. 5
  4. 1 2 Herring (2004) p. 720
  5. ↑ Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v. Nattrass [1972] AC 153
  6. ↑ Attorney General's Reference (No. 2 of 1999) [2000] QB 796, CA
  7. ↑ "History of passage through Parliament". Parliament of the UK. 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
  8. 1 2 s. 1(6)
  9. ↑ s. 1(1)
  10. ↑ s. 1(3)
  11. ↑ s. 17
  12. ↑ s. 18
  13. ↑ S. 20
  14. ↑ s. 1(2)
  15. ↑ s. 14
  16. ↑ sch. 1, s. 11
  17. ↑ s. 2
  18. ↑ s. 3
  19. ↑ ss. 4, 13
  20. ↑ ss. 5, 12
  21. ↑ s. 6
  22. ↑ s. 7
  23. ↑ "Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act: custody provisions". Ministry of Justice. 21 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
  24. ↑ s. 1(4)(b)
  25. 1 2 s. 8
  26. ↑ s. 1(4)(c)
  27. ↑ S. 9
  28. ↑ S. 10
  29. 1 2 "Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences Definitive Guideline" (PDF). Sentencing Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2016.
  30. ↑ "Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings convicted of first corporate manslaughter charge under new Act". Crown Prosecution Service. 2011. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  31. ↑ "Court sets out sentencing guidance for the offence of corporate manslaughter". Northern Ireland Courts. 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  32. ↑ "Second ever conviction for corporate manslaughter". Crown Prosecution Service. 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  33. ↑ "Fourth statutory corporate manslaughter conviction – are trends emerging?". Kingsley Napley. 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  34. ↑ "London sports club sentenced for corporate manslaughter over banana boat ride". Crown Prosecution Service. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  35. ↑ "Corporate manslaughter convictions now up to six". RPC. 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  36. ↑ "Cavendish Masonry fined for corporate manslaughter". BBC News. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  37. ↑ "Rotherham firm found guilty of corporate manslaughter". The Star . 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  38. ↑ "Coleraine firm accepts guilt over worker's 'terrible and tragic' death". News Letter. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  39. ↑ "Firm admits to failures which led to fatal Lindal plunge". North-West Evening Mail. 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  40. ↑ "Family welcome corporate manslaughter conviction after Merseyside dad died in industrial oven". Liverpool Echo. 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  41. ↑ "Alan Milne admits manslaughter and other charges on behalf of one of his companies". BBC News. 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  42. ↑ "Summary of Corporate Manslaughter cases - April 2017". Northumbria University. 4 September 2017.
  43. ↑ "Scaffolding firm admits responsibility for death of Liverpool dad who fell while fixing roof". Liverpool Echo. 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  44. ↑ "Company and its senior management sentenced following death of 16 year old apprentice". Crown Prosecution Service. 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  45. ↑ "CAV Aerospace fined £600K over worker Paul Bowers crush death". BBC News. 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  46. ↑ "St Albans wall collapse death: Executives admit corporate manslaughter". BBC News. 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  47. ↑ "Corporate manslaughter case concluded". Philip Poynter Construction Safety. 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  48. ↑ "Company sentenced for corporate manslaughter after six year old girl dies". Crown Prosecution Service. 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  49. ↑ "Baldwins Crane Hire fined over death of Lindsay Easton". BBC News. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  50. ↑ "Sentencing for first corporate manslaughter conviction relating to a care home". Crown Prosecution Service. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  51. ↑ "Firm fined £550,000 for 'preventable' death of couple who fell 20ft". Evening Standard. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  52. ↑ "Failed company and its manager convicted of corporate and gross negligence manslaughter". Crown Prosecution Service. 16 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  53. ↑ Bardsley, Andrew (16 March 2017). "Live: Company bosses jailed for shocking cover-up over dad who died at Fletcher Bank Quarry". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  54. 1 2 "Three directors jailed over skylight fall". IOSH Magazine. Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  55. ↑ "Boss jailed over Knightsbridge balcony fall deaths". BBC News. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  56. ↑ "Director disqualified after worker fell into 'dilapidated' trommel". IOSH Magazine. Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  57. ↑ "Deco-Pak: Firm guilty of corporate manslaughter over worker's crush death". BBC News. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

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