Acquittals of Companies, company directors, business owners and senior managers since 2005

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Death of Dean Cox

John Beckett was accused over the death of Dean Cox who was found slumped over a vat of chemicals used to strip alloy wheels at A1 in Wolverhampton.

Judge Richard Griffith Jones entered a not guilty verdict at Warwick Crown Court in May 2008 on the charge of manslaughter by gross negligence after Beckett’s lawyers argued there was no case to answer.

Beckett admitted a health and safety charge over standards at A1, Minerva Lane, Horseley Fields. Prosecutors alleged a 'cavalier' attitude was taken to safety.

Beckett, said to be 'profoundly distressed' during questioning, said he never felt ill because of fumes at work, nor had anyone reported any problems.

He said, 'Nobody’s ever come to me and said, "I don’t feel very well and I don’t like how we’re working." If they had done, I would have done something about it.'

He said staff were supposed to use a hook to pluck wheels from the tank and he told them never to lean over and use their hands.

Steve Cresswell, a colleague of Dean, told how Dean vomited and passed out after suffering a bad reaction as he worked with aluminium wheels in a tank of chemicals.

That was said to have been weeks before Dean died when he was poisoned by dichloromethane, a key ingredient in the paint stripping process. It is thought he had been standing on pallets and leaning over the so-called 'acid tank' to check on aluminium wheels which were being stripped.

He was overcome by the fumes and was found a short time later when Steve Cresswell went to check on him. He told the court how Dean was involved in another incident in the weeks leading up to his death in September 2006. He said Dean began dribbling as he worked with the wheels in the tank.

'We had to sit him down,' he said. 'He was completely out of it. He was breathing but he wasn’t there. He was pale, lifeless.'

The firm shut the day after, but Dean was said to have suffered reactions to the chemicals 'on a daily basis'.

Mr Cresswell, who once had hospital treatment after splashing a chemical in his eye at A1, said he used to hold his breath when working over the tank. 'There were times when I felt a pumping in my head at the acid tank,' he added.

Death of Robert Sharples

Robert had been helping move a caravan weighing four-and-a-half tonnes when one wheel sank into soft ground. As it was being raised using jacks, it collapsed and pinned him to the ground. Robert suffered multiple crushing injuries to his chest and spine.

The former owner of the Dales caravan park and his company were charged with manslaughter over Robert's death.

In November 2007 Windermere-based Lakeland Leisure Estates Ltd, and managing director Phillip Morgan were acquitted at Bradford Crown Court after the Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Stephen Gullick, told the jury to return not guilty verdicts as the evidence did not amount to a gross breach of duty.

Both the company and Mr Morgan had denied manslaughter.

But Mr Morgan and the company were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £47,500 after pleading guilty to breaches of Health and Safety regulations.

Prosecutor Andrew Dallas claimed the death was caused by the 'gross negligence' of the defendants. But on the 18th day of the trial Judge Gullick agreed with a submission by defence counsel Timothy Langdale QC there was insufficient evidence.

He said mistakes or errors of judgement, even very serious ones, were 'nowhere near enough for the crime of manslaughter to have been committed'.

'I cannot ignore the fact that Mr Sharples had been told in previous days not to go under caravans being jacked-up,' he said

Judge Gullick said the methods used to move the caravan were safe providing they were followed to the letter. He told Morgan, 'You were using tried and tested methods which, I am told, were and still are being used in the industry.'

But there were two 'departures' from those methods and that meant the defendants had failed to carry out obligations to ensure a safe working procedure was adhered to.

The judge said they were guilty of 'lengthy and considerable' failure to prepare formal risk assessment documents, despite twice being advised by council officials after minor incidents at another site in Pooley Bridge, Cumbria, in 2003 and 2004.

Judge Gullick said to Morgan, 'You were deficient in your operations but I accept it was not motivated by profit or a couldn't-care-less attitude. In general terms you were a good employer, took pride in your parks and were friendly towards your staff.'

Mr Langdale said Mr Morgan had sold the parks. 'Part of that decision was because he had lost enthusiasm for the work as a result of all this. There is nothing that sets Mr Morgan and Lakeland Leisure apart from other operators in terms of what they were doing that day,' he said.

After the accident, around £170,000 was spent on research, development and air bags and other equipment where needed at the firm's parks.

Death of Lee Alexander

Lee was killed in April 2006 as he worked with his boss at cabinet-maker Shearfab Ltd in Widnes.

Together with manager Andrew Carter, Lee was fixing together cabinets which needed to be attached together using bolts placed through pre-drilled holes.

The fitter would climb on to the body of the forklift truck, leaning through the mast and forks to reach and align the holes. But as the forks were raised and lowered, one of the cabinets began to fall, prompting Carter to instinctively move to catch them.

Lee, who was in his precarious position and had his foot on the dashboard of the forklift, inadvertently moved backwards on to the lever, causing the forks to rise. He was crushed in front of his horrified workmates and died instantly from severe injuries to his head, chest and back.

Shearfab Ltd admitted health and safety breaches along with Carter, who was found guilty of the same offences, and not guilty of Lee ’s manslaughter.

The company was fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs while Carter was fined £2,000 plus £1,000 costs, at Chester Crown Court.

After the trial detectives condemned the work practices at the Widnes firm as 'foolhardy, dangerous, and illegal'. Simon Price, of Cheshire police, said, 'Lee Alexander should not have died. His was an avoidable, pointless and unnecessary death in an environment where an accident was waiting to happen.

'If the company who employed him had dutifully exercised their responsibility to ensure his safety, his parents and family would not be here at court today grieving the loss of their son.'

Lee’s distraught family called on companies to learn lessons from the tragic incident and said his death had left behind a huge void in their life.
A statement read, 'As a family we are still coming to terms with the loss of Lee – nothing could prepare us for what happened to him. The fact that it has taken 18 months for us to find out what really happened to him on the day he died has been a very hard time for our family. Lee’s larger than life personality is missed by everyone – his family and his many friends.
'The only positive thing we can take from his death is that lessons are learned from what has happened to Lee. General health and safety is not something to be taken for granted and hopefully another family does not go through what we are going through.'

Health and safety inspector Iain Evans said, 'This was a tragic accident which could have been avoided. Forklift trucks were responsible for just under 2,000 reportable incidents last year, including seven deaths.'

Death of Alexander Hayden

Alexander, a building site worker from Manchester, died when the dumper truck he was driving overturned at City Park trading estate in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.

Paul Nolan, site manager at the time, was charged with manslaughter following Alexander's death and failing to discharge a duty contrary to Health and Safety laws. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Mr Nolan was working for Denton building firm A &A Building Services, which was carrying out demolition work, refurbishment of units and creating hard standings at the site.

A & A Building Services pleaded guilty to a Health and Safety charge but Darren Barrie Atkins, the firm's director, pleaded not guilty to the charge of manslaughter.

Paul Nolan appeared before magistrates in Stoke-on-Trent on 23 October 2006 and was committed for trial at Stafford Crown Court.

On 17 September 2007 Paul Nolan was acquitted of manslaughter after a 13-day trial at Stafford Crown Court. But Mr Nolan was convicted of failing to discharge a duty, contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and fined £5,000 plus £1,000 costs. He had denied the charges.

A &A Building Services director, Darren Atkins, aged 42, Nolan's manager, denied contravening the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, but was convicted and fined £15,000 plus £7,700 costs.

On 21 September Nolan was ordered to pay the fine within 28 days or face three months imprisonment. Setting the fine the Judge addressed Nolan saying that, 'you were responsible for the day-to-day running of the site and showed a complete disregard for the safety of the workers working under you; you thought you knew best... but you didn't. You were failed by your employers but you failed Alex Hayden.'

The judge also ordered Atkins's fine to be paid within three months, or face nine months imprisonment. To Atkins the judge said, 'You were the director responsible for health and safety but you did next to nothing about health and safety, ignored clear warning bells, fell very short of what was expected and there was a high degree of neglect.'

A&A Building Services Ltd was fined £55,000, to be paid at the rate of £1,500 per month. Of the company the judge said: "There was a disregard to Health & Safety, it fell so very far short...... in the culture of a growing business the ethos didn't change and slack or absent procedures stayed within the company.'

In setting the fines the judge said he had, 'Paid regard to the financial position of the company but aggravating features of the case had set the high fines imposed ... to send a message.' Additionally, costs were set at £1,000 Nolan, £7,700 Atkins and £6,000 to be paid by the company.

The judge's opening remarks summarised the case when he said, 'This case shows why it is necessary to have proper rules and procedure on construction sites - the accident was wholly avoidable.'

HSE inspector Dave Brassington said, 'Basic health and safety precautions are all too frequently ignored and appropriate training is not given for workers on building refurbishment sites - it is completely unacceptable that so many lives are being put at risk. The simple fact is that, despite knowing what they should be doing, too many people are prepared to allow bad practices to continue, even though last year 39 people died on refurbishment, repair and maintenance sites.

'In this particular case there were many opportunities presented to the company, to improve the management of health and safety, but advice given by industry safety experts and the HSE was wilfully ignored.

'We are determined to tackle this issue head-on to prevent such tragedies and will continue to take enforcement action against those who flout safety precautions. Let me be clear to all those who put lives at risk - we will continue to carry out further inspections and will take all action necessary to protect workers, including closing sites and prosecution.'

HSE Regional Director Marcia Davies said, 'My advice to those who work in the refurbishment sector is to plan work, use competent workers, give the required training and use the right equipment safely.

'In June/July this year we ordered work to stop immediately during 14 on-site inspections because we felt life was at risk. Each time that we release statistics or carry out a prosecution in the construction sector there is a momentary improvement in safe working practices but we want contractors to think 'safety first' at all times, as injury prevention is not something to start thinking about after an accident has already happened.

'We welcomed the Secretary of State's decision to hold a Construction Forum and hope that this will further influence the construction industry to manage health and safety issues to a better standard, to minimise risk to employees and the public.'

The court heard that Alexander had only been driving the nine-ton truck for two months - during which he had been involved in two other accidents - and had not received the required training. Approximately two weeks before his death he was thrown from a Bobcat digger he was using when it fell into a trench at the site.

Safety bars, or a trained ‘banks man’, to stop the dumper truck falling down the embankment Alexander was tipping from on the day he died were not in place.

A joint investigation by Staffordshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was launched into Mr Hayden’s death.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Lee, from the Force’s Major Investigation Department at Water Street, Newcastle, said, 'Our enquiries uncovered a catalogue of major health and safety flaws at the site that meant, unfortunately, Mr Hayden’s death was a tragedy waiting to happen.

'This hearing sends a vital message to employers about their responsibility to their staff. We would like to thank HSE staff and the CPS Special Crime Division at York for their support in this investigation.

'Hopefully today’s outcome will provide some comfort for Mr Hayden’s family as they live with his loss.'

Death of Glynn Thompson

Carl Pointon, Director of a family run animal rendering company, was charged with the manslaughter of 25 year old Glynn who died after being overcome by offal fumes at the plant and collapsing in an enclosed piece of machinery as he tried to pull his colleague Ivan Torr to safety. The Company has also been charged. Both Mr Pointon and the firm denied the charge.

The trial opened at Stafford Crown Court in April 2007.

The trial heard how Glynn was lowered on a crane manned by Mr Pointon.

He was eventually freed and taken to hospital, where he died. Glynn's workmate Ivan Torr was also taken to hospital for treatment but survived.

William Davis QC, prosecuting, said the firm had installed a new enclosed rendering process area which meant lorries could dump the animal waste directly into a pit for processing.

He said the firm did not take enough care to ensure staff using this new equipment were safe.

Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter carried out a post-mortem examination on Glyn and found he had 'foul smelling material' in his air passages, 'widespread bronchitis' and his brain was 'very swollen'.

Dr Carter told the court that a person can quickly become unconscious if there is not enough oxygen or they breathe in toxic gases.

She said, 'What he died of was brain damage due to disruption of oxygen.'

Mr Davis asked her, 'Was there anything at all that you found that suggested anything natural causing his collapse and death?'

The day after the post mortem examination, Dr Carter said she visited the Pointon's site, in Felthouse Lane, and looked at the animal rendering 'line' where Glynn collapsed.

'Having smelled a lot of bad smells throughout my career, I would say it was one of the worst smells I have ever smelled,' she said.

A toxicologist who examined gas test results from the machine where the two workers collapsed told jurors that some measurements of hydrogen sulphide were above 'the level that is dangerous to life and health'. Dr Howard Mason said hydrogen sulphide was 'an extremely toxic gas in its own right' and interfered with vital organs such as the brain. In addition, it was also an irritant to the lungs. 'The more you breathe in, the more the lungs become inflamed and the less oxygen you can take in. There's a double effect,' Dr Mason told Stafford Crown Court.

On 14 May 2007 Carl Pointon was cleared of the manslaughter charge.

The firm however was found guilty of health and safety charges and in July 2007 was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay £80,000 costs.

Judge Simon Tonking said, 'The system to clear blockage of equipment had obvious and inherent dangers. Also inherent was another deadly danger, the gases given off from animal waste.

'There was serious dereliction of duty which fell short of what should have been done. The attitudes towards a health and safety structure were flimsy and ineffective.

'There were several incidents, both singular and collectively, which should have urged the company to look at its health and safety, but they were ignored.'

Richard Matthews, defending, said 'The company accepts he should never have been in the situation he was, and never exposed to the dangers. Criticism of the company at the time is accepted. But the greatest mitigation is how much has changed at John Pointon.

'The change was beginning to occur before Mr Thompson's death. The expansion went quicker than the health and safety changes could catch up. There has been a massive programme of investment, just short of £4 million.'

Prosecutor Bernard Thorogood said an inspector reported there had been very little health and safety and confined spaces training.

'There should have been tests done about what toxic gases could be present,' he said. 'There was insufficient or very little thought given to safe measures of working or a health and safety policy.'

Judge Tonking said, 'Had there had been a proper health and safety culture, problems would have amounted to a wake-up call or warning. Failure to respond is an aggravating feature.'

Speaking after the sentence, DC Chris Short, from Staffordshire Police's major investigations department, said 'John Pointon and Sons will have to pay a very significant financial cost for breaching health and safety legislation, but more importantly, they have had to make many improvements to make their premises safer.'

Death of Terry Jupp

Maurice Marshall who works at Fort Halstead for the Defence Science Technology Laboratory, was accused of causing the death of Terry Jupp when an experiment at a Ministry of Defence site went wrong.

The Government scientist is said to have ordered Terry to mix a 10kg charge of three chemicals, as part of joint British-American tests, but failed to warn him how dangerous it was. Terry suffered horrific injuries when the mixture ignited at Newlands Battery in Shoeburyness, Essex on August 14, 2002.

The chemist received 60 to 90 per cent burns to his body and was airlifted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford before being transferred to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital burns unit. Terry died of septicaemia from his injuries on August 20.

Following an investigation by the Ministry of Defence Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Marshall was charged over his death.

He appeared at the Old Bailey on September 2005 and pleaded not guilty to gross negligence manslaughter. His trial was due to start on 4 September 2006.

In September 2006 a new trial date was set for 16 April 2007 at the Old Bailey.

Charges against Marshall's colleague Robert Weighill, 56, from Sevenoaks, were dropped because of a lack of evidence.

In March 2007 Mr Marshall was cleared at the Old Bailey of Terry's manslaughter.

Explaining the decision to drop the charges, Gareth Patterson, prosecuting said, 'Things have recently changed. Further information has recently come into the possession of the Crown Prosecution Service.

'That information involves further evidence involving the results of a series of tests carried out by one of the prosecution witnesses.'

Writing in the Observer on 18 March 2007 Antony Barnett said that it was understood Terry was involved in research looking at the composition of home-made fertiliser bombs used by Islamic terrorists.

Antony Barnett added that sources believe that both the United States and British military authorities were concerned that, should the criminal case continue, highly sensitive information could have been released on the nature of the experiments being conducted.

A CPS spokeswoman confirmed that the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, was involved in the decision not to continue with the case. But she added: 'The decision was taken by CPS lawyers based on new evidence that came to light. The decision not to continue the case was not down to a public interest argument.'

An HSE spokesman said, 'The expectation is the file will now be sent to HSE for us to review the evidence.'

The MoD has Crown immunity so cannot be prosecuted under health and safety legislation, although individual members of staff can be.

The HSE could call the MoD to a Crown censure hearing, if it felt its procedures were at fault.

In March 2008, nearly six years after Terry's death, there still had been no inquest, as the Coroner waited for the MoD to disclose information about the incident.

The Guardian newspaper reported, 'It has established that Terry was a member of a small team of British and US scientists making bombs from ingredients of the sort that terrorists could obtain. There is also evidence pointing to experiments to discover more about radiological dispersal devices - so-called dirty bombs - which use conventional explosives to scatter radioactive material.

'But such a project would have been controversial as the open-air experiment that ended in Jupp's death was conducted at a weapons testing centre on an island in the Thames estuary 10 miles from Southend, Essex.

'Meanwhile, the scientist's family despair of discovering what happened. "I feel these people high up want it swept under the carpet," said Jupp's mother Anne. "The death of one man is nothing to upset them too much, I suppose. But it does upset us."'

Death of Derek Thorburn

Michael Griffin, managing director of Constructional & Vehicle Welders Ltd has been summonsed to appear before magistrates in connection with a fatal explosion back in 2004. Derek Thorburn, 54, from Laindon, was attending to a petrol tanker at an industrial unit at Sandy Lane in West Thurrock when the explosion occurred.

Mr Griffin will face one count of manslaughter and one count of breaching safety laws. The company has also been charged with S2 and S3 charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The trial date is set for Basildon Crown Court on 1 January 2007.

In February 2007 the manslaughter charge was dismissed by the judge. However Constructional Vehicle Welders Ltd was fined £5,000, with £20,000 costs, for beaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Michael Griffin was fined £10,000 for breaching Section 37(1) of the same act.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commented that they were satisfied that there had been convictions for health and safety against both the company and Mr Griffin in his personal capacity as managing director.

The HSE also issued a warning about the dangers of work in confined spaces: 'The HSE wishes to make it clear that we expect the risks associated with this type of work to be properly managed in accordance with published guidance, whatever the size of the company. We will continue to take action against those who flout the law and put people's lives at risk.'

Cumbria Legionnaires' Deaths

Gillian Beckingham, a town hall architect and Head of Barrow Borough Council's Design Services Group at the time of the deaths was accused of the manslaughter of seven people who died in a Legionnaires' Disease outbreak linked to Barrow Borough Council leisure centre in Summer 2002.

Mrs Beckingham, 48, was accused of being criminally negligent after the deadly bug killed seven and infected 172 others at the Forum 28 Art Centre in July and August 2002.

Beckingham denied the manslaughter of Richard Macauley, 88, Wendy Milburn, 56, Georgina Somerville, 54, Harriet Low, 74, Elizabeth Dixon, 80, June Miles, 56, and Christine Merewood, 55, all from Barrow. She also denies breaching health and safety laws.

The trial at Preston Crown Court is expected to last six weeks. At the trial Kevin Borthwick Forum 28’s technical manager was accused of passing on the blame for the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak and was accused of lying about the role played by Mrs Beckingham in cancelling vital testing that could have prevented the outbreak.

At an earlier trial, Barrow Borough Council, which owns Forum 28 and employed Beckingham, was cleared of corporate manslaughter but pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Mrs Beckingham was cleared on the seven counts of manslaughter on 2 August. However, by a majority of 11 to one, the jury convicted Beckingham of one charge of breaching health and safety law for which she was fined £15,000.

The council, which pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence last year, was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay £90,000 court costs.

When passing sentence, Judge Stanley Burnton QC said that in his judgement Beckingham's failures had been serious and, but for the context in which they occurred with the lack of support received from, and the general ethos of disregard by, the council, the general outcome may have been different.

He added that, had Beckingham been a lady of great wealth, then he would have imposed a much greater penalty as her failures led to multiple deaths and a lot of serious suffering.

Judge Burnton also said that an admission of guilt on behalf of Beckingham would have worked in her favour, 'You were not able to admit those failings that were clearly established by the evidence.'

When sentencing the council, Judge Burnton told the court that the outbreak of the disease was 'a tragedy that should never have happened'.

He added that there had been many opportunities for the council to take steps to prevent the outbreak and that failings had not only been at the lowest level of the council, but all the way to the top in terms of its serving officers.

On 31 October 2006 it was announced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that Colin Pickthall was to chair a hearing on the disease outbreak

Mr Pickthall conducted two public meetings on 4 and 11 December 2006 .

'I am pleased to be asked to do this,' said Colin. 'I hope the hearing can help the people of Barrow gain a thorough understanding of the tragedy that struck the town in 2002. I am glad that Tom Campbell, the Chief Executive of Barrow Borough Council has agreed to join me at the meetings, along with representatives from several of the organisations who dealt with and then investigated the outbreak, to answer people's questions and to hear their concerns.'

'The purpose of the hearing,' continued Colin, 'is to provide an opportunity for members of the public, especially the families of those who died, the people who suffered illness and the wider community of Barrow, to learn about the circumstances and the causes of the outbreak.'

'They will have the opportunity to ask questions in an independently chaired public forum, and to help identify lessons of value both for Barrow and more widely.'

'The meeting on 4 December will examine the circumstances, the causes of and responses to the outbreak. The following week we will discuss and identify lessons to prevent further comparable tragedies, both in Barrow and elsewhere.'

The hearing was organised by the HSE at the request of John Hutton, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and MP for Barrow & Furness.

In March 2007 it was announced that the inquest into the deaths would be held at Barrow Magistrates' Court before South Cumbria Coroner Ian Smith in June 2007. There will be no jury and 13 witnesses will be called in the week from 4 June.

The report by the HSE into the Barrow Legionella outbreak published in April 2003 set out the steps that organisations need to take to avoid such outbreaks in the future, and what HSE intended to do to secure proper standards of control.

Colin Pickthall said, 'Like most accidents, this tragedy could have been avoided if the risks had been properly managed. This report follows two public meetings, held to explain to the people of Barrow and others what happened that summer. It describes the subsequent investigation, and highlights the lessons and recommendations to others to help prevent a comparable tragedy.'

Heath and Safety Executive Regional Director David Ashton said, 'Barrow has shown again how deadly legionella can be, but also that well-understood precautions will control the risk. This report explains both the technical steps, and the essentials of good health and safety management that can make sure a similar tragedy never happens again.'

In May 2007 Mrs Beckingham took early retirement on medical grounds last week. The council said in a statement, 'Following her application for retirement on medical grounds and assessment by the Cumbria Pension Fund, Gill Beckingham left the council’s employment on Monday, May 21.'

At an inquest into the deaths in June 2007, Furness Coroner Ian Smith recorded a narrative verdict, saying five victims had died as a direct result of contracting Legionnaire's disease. One other person died from natural causes, contributed to by the disease, and another from natural causes, the treatment of which was compromised in part by Legionnaire's disease.

He said the law prevented him from giving a verdict of unlawful killing, which the families of the deceased had requested.

He said he believed that the council should apologise personally to the families for their suffering.

In October 2007 Kathryn Gilbertson, solicitor with Greenwoods Solicitor and who legally represented the architect, told the CIEH Best of the Best Conference. Gillian Beckingham, senior architect with Barrow-in-Furness Council, should not have faced manslaughter charges.

Ms Gilbertson said that Ms Beckingham had only had an indirect relationship with the Forum 28 leisure centre, whose defective air conditioning unit caused the outbreak. ‘She did not have managerial control over the centre and played no part in decision-making procedures… The police were determined to find someone guilty of manslaughter and that person was Gill.’

Ms Gilbertson said the problems with the air conditioning unit that had caused the outbreak had followed the signing of a maintenance contract with a new contractor, Interserve.

Neither the council’s environmental health department nor its part-time safety officer, she claimed, had applied the Health and Safety Executive’s approved code of practice L8, on Legionnaire’s disease.

In addition, she alleged that supervision, monitoring and control measures for health and safety had been inadequate.

She said Ms Beckingham, who had been forced to fight her cases on legal aid, now faced disciplinary procedure from the Royal Institute of British Architects. She had been ‘broken’ by her experience.

She commented, ‘Gill was doing her job to the best of her ability. If you were in her situation, you would expect your employer or your trade union, which was Unison, to support you and to pay for your defence. But they didn’t.’

Ms Gilbertson said that a huge amount of public money had been spent on the case and that the people of Barrow had the right to know who was truly responsible.

She warned that senior figures from Barrow-in-Furness Council would almost certainly have faced charges for manslaughter, if the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act had been in force at the time of 2002 Legionnaire’s disease outbreak.

Dearh of Mark Chadbourne and Anthony Best

In December 2005, the two owners of a haluage company, R&B Drivers, were acquitted of the manslaughter of Mark Chadbourne and Anthony Best after a judge ordered the jury to return a 'not-guilty' verdict. Winchester Crown Court was told that R&B Drivers supplied agency drivers for major companies across the country. But Knapman, 46, and Legg, 53, put pressure on Mr Chadbourne and others to work beyond their legal hours of driving to make money for the firm. The fatal accident happened on the A303 near West Knoyle when Mr Chadbourne's lorry crossed the road into the path of the other vehicle driven by Mr Best, from Bristol, who worked for another company. The prosecution claimed that the crash was caused by Mr Chadbourne falling asleep, but Judge Michael Broderick said that a heart attack could not be ruled out which led him to order the jury to acquit the defendants of the manslaughter charge.

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Deaths in Hatfield Rail Crash

In October 2005 at the Old Bailey Mr Justice Mackay ordered all remaining manslaughter charges to be dropped in relation to the Hatfield train crash. The accident in Hatfield, on 17 October 2000, happened when the London to Leeds express came off the tracks at 115 mph. It was derailed by a cracked section of rail leaving four dead and more than 100 injured.

The judge described the case as one of the worst examples of sustained industrial negligence he had ever seen. He said 750,000 passengers' lives had been put at risk due to the broken rail.

The faulty rail was spotted 21 months earlier but left unrepaired even though a replacement rail had been delivered and left alongside it for six months.

Balfour Beatty, responsible for track maintenance at the time, was fined £10 million and Network Rail was fined £3.5 million for breaking safety rules before the crash. The fines are an English record.The companies were also ordered to contribute £300,000 each to the estimated £8.5 million prosecution costs following the trial at the Old Bailey in London.

In July 2006 Balfour Beatty had their £10 million fine reduced to £7.5 million by the Court of Appeal after defence lawyers argued it was excessive.

Three judges headed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, ruled that the disparity between Balfour Beatty's and Network Rail's fines was so great that a reduction was applicable.

'We consider there is scope for a reduction in the interests of proportionality which will still do justice to the applicable (legal) principles and, in particular, to the victims of the Hatfield disaster,' said Lord Phillips.