Move on manslaughter
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Karen Miles • Hauliers have been given notice by the Government that if they cause death through negligence they will find it far harder to escape corporate manslaughter charges.
Legislation to this effect is likely to be introduced next year; it will make it more difficult for haulage bosses to argue that they had no con trolling link with an accident which led to a death. The "active consideration" being given to this change by Home Secretary Jack Straw follows public disquiet over recent transport disasters and the subsequent absence of corporate prosecutions.
Straw may also be influenced by the Law Commission, which has proposed that the emphasis should be on negligence, rather than recklessness, when assessing manslaughter charges.
In what is thought to be the first successful case of corporate manslaughter to be brought against a road haulier, Jacksons Transport of Ossett and its former managing director, Alan Jackson, were last year convicted following the death of one of the company's workers (CM 25 September-1 October 1996).
James Hodgson died after being sprayed in the face with a toxic chemical while cleaning out a tanker at the firm's depot. The prosecution had argued that Jackson and the firm had deliberately disregarded their obligations to ensure the safety of employees.
So far only two cases of corporate manslaughter have been brought against individuals after road accidents.
• Eric Preston, the former transport manager of Fewston Transport, has made an application that his corporate manslaughter trial should be heard outside of the North-East because of the amount of media coverage the case has received in the region. One of the Skipton firm's lorries lost control at Sowerby Bridge and killed six people.
A couple accused of corporate manslaughter after their truck crashed into a car, killing an 11-year old girl, will stand trial at Maidstone Crown Court in January.
Neither Matilda Morgan nor Brian Nobes, who run a Northamptonshire catering firm, were driving the Ford Cargo when it ran into the back of Michelle Shields' car. But it is alleged that they committed corporate manslaughter by acts amounting to gross negligence for failing to ensure the Cargo was in a safe and roadworthy condition.