Details of Convictions of Directors for the offence of manslaughter

These figures relate to cases since 1980 and perhaps before that

Below are details of the 11 directors convicted.

However, to see list which includes all business owners, click here

Cases

Name of Deceased	Date of Deaths	Conviction Date	Convicted Defendants	Status	Sentence
Daryl Arnold	Jun 2003	Jan 2005	Lee Harper	Managing Director	16 month imprisonment
- Stephen Law - Neil Owen - Benjamin Kwapong	Feb 2002	Dec 2004	Melvyn Spree	Director	7 years
			Keymark Services	Company
Ben Pinkham	Feb 2003	Jul 2004	Nationwide Heating Services Ltd	Company	£90,000 (including H+S offences)
			Alan James Mark	Director	one year imprisonment
Christopher Longrigg	Apr 2000	24 Feb 2003	Teglgaard Hardwood (UK) Ltd	Company	£25,000
			John Horner	Director	5 month prison sentence - suspended for two years
Stephen Hayfield	Nov 2000	Oct 2002	Dennis Clothier and sons:	Company	£4,000
			Julian Clothier	Director	240 hrs community Service
John Speight	Feb 1998	Mar 200	Roger Jackson	Director	1 year (suspended)
Peter Morgan and Barry Davies	Oct 1997	Oct 1999	Stephen Bowles	Director	15 months (suspended)
			Julie Bowles	Director	1 year (suspended)
James Hodgson	May 1994	Sept 1996	Jackson Transport (Ossett) Ltd	Company	£15,000
			Alan Jackson	Director	12 Months imprisonment
Simon Dean and three others	Mar 1993	Nov 1994	OLL Ltd	Company	£60,000
			Peter Kite	Director	3 Years imprisonment
George Kenyon	May 1988	Dec 1989	Norman Holt	Director	Suspended sentence

Death of Darayl Arnold
Mr Arnold, aged 27, and several others had been employed by Mr Lee Harper of Cannock, Staffordshire, to remove and replace the roof of a warehouse on the Lynton industrial estate in Salford. No safe system of work had been prepared before the work began and no safety precautions were in place at the time of the incident. Mr Arnold had never worked on a roof before.

Whilst working on the roof, Mr Arnold stepped backwards onto a fragile rooflight on an adjoining warehouse, which gave way. Mr Arnold fell approximately 6.75m landing on the ground floor directly below. He died as a result of his injuries. Mr Harper, managing director of Harper Building Contractors Ltd of Cannock Staffordshire pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and a breach of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA).

Death of Stepehn Law, Neil Owen, and Benjamin Kwapong
Melvyn Spree, 47, from Sheerness, in Kent, admitted the manslaughter and unlawful killing of Mr Owen and Mr Kwapong. Keymark Services pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the two men. The crash on the M1 in Northamptonshire happened on 27 February 2002 when lorry driver Steven Law - who worked for Keymark Services - fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into seven vehicles. Northampton Crown Court heard how lorry drivers were told to falsify records so they could work longer hours. It also heard how working practices at the haulage company were "an accident waiting to happen". Sir Derek Spencer QC, prosecuting, said: "Drivers drove as long as they could, failing to take daily rests and weekly rests. "The result was that there was a risk that any of them at any time might fall asleep at the wheel.

Drivers also regularly kept false records of working hours so it appeared they were complying with the law. At the time of the collision, Mr Law's tachograph actually showed his truck at rest at Keymark's depot on the Isle of Sheppey.
Following a police investigation all of the company's 10 full-time drivers were prosecuted - they were fined for a total of 400 different offences of breaching driving regulations and falsifying vehicle records. Three other part-time drivers received official cautions.

Death of Ben Pinkham
Ben suffered 90% burns following an explosion at Princess Yachts International on 3 February 2003.

Death of Christopher Longrigg in April 2000
On 25th February 2003, Teglgaard Hardwood (UK) LTD and one of its directors, John Horner (58) pleaded guilty at Hull Crown court to the manslaughter of 18 year old labourer Christopher Longrigg who died in April 2000 when a stack of timber fell on him whilst he was working for the company at the old Dunstan’s shipyard in Hessle.

Article on Guilty plea

Article on Sentencing

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Death of Stephen Hayfield in November 2000
In October 2002, the company, Dennis Clothier and Sons, and one of its directors, Julian Clothier were found guilty of the manslaughter of Stephen Hayfield (39) who died in November 2000 when he was hit by a 20-tonne trailer which was owned by the company. Bristol Crown Court heard that the trailer became detached from a tractor because it was dangerously loaded and the hitch mechanism connecting the trailer to the tractor was "badly worn". Mr Clothier was responsible for the maintenance on the company’s vehicles, and the court heard that he should have noticed the defect which was "obvious to the naked eye." A failsafe system was not connected at the time of the crash. In December, he was sentenced to do 240 hours community Service

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Death of Bill Larkman in June 1999
In August 2001, English Brothers LTD, a Wisbech based construction company, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Bill Larkman, a gang foreman, who died in June 1999 when he fell over eight metres though a fragile roof to his death. The prosecution had earlier accepted a plea of ‘not guilty’ from Melvyn Hubbard, a director of the company. The Court heard that in 1997, inspectors from the HSE had seen Bill Larkman working at another English Brothers site without using the correct safety equipment, and had spoken to the company about its safety failings. However nothing was done to improve the situation. The company was fined £25,000.

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Death of John Speight in February 1998
In March 2000, Roger Jackson (43), Director of Easy Moss Products LTD was convicted for the manslaughter of John Speight (25), a worker with special needs, who was crushed to death in February 1998 when he fell from a cage which was being lifted on a forklift truck (FLT). He received a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years. He was also convicted of two health and safety offences and fined £10,000.

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Deaths of Peter Morgan and Barry Davies in October 1997
In October 1999, Stephen Bowles (45) and his sister Julie Bowles (41), both Directors of Roy Bowles Transport LTD were convicted of the manslaughter of Peter Morgan (48) and Barry Davies (38) who died in October 1997 in a seven vehicle pile up on the M25 after a lorry driver, working for the company, fell asleep at the wheel. The Old Bailey heard that Mr Cox, the lorry driver, and other drivers at the firm worked very long hours with the knowledge of the directors. Stephen Bowles and Julie Bowles were sentenced to 15 months and 12 months imprisonment respectively, but both sentences were suspended for two years. Victor Gilliard, a company Secretary, was acquitted of manslaughter. Andrew Cox, the driver of the lorry, received a two and a half year prison sentence for the offence of death by dangerous driving.

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Death of James Hodgson in May 1994
In September 1996, Jackson Transport (Ossett) LTD and its managing Director, Alan Jackson were convicted for the manslaughter of James Hodgson who died in May 1994 after cleaning chemical residues at the rear of a road tanker. Bradford Crown Court heard that James Hodgson died when he used steam pressure to clean a valve in a tanker blocked with highly toxic chemicals. The company had not provided preventative equipment, supervision, or adequate training. Alan Jackson, the sole director of the company at the time of the death, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and the company was fined £15,000.

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Death of Simon Dean and three others in March 1993
In November 1994, Oll Ltd and its managing director Peter Kite was convicted of the manslaughter of four students of Southway Comprehensive School in Plymouth – Simon Deane (16), Clair Langley (16), Rachel Walker (16) and Dean Sawyer (17) - who died during a canoeing trip in Lyme Regis, Dorset in March 1993. Winchester Crown court held that the group was accompanied by a school teacher and two unqualified instructors who only had basic proficiency skills in canoeing. The group was swept out to sea, and capsized frequently. The Centre had not provided any distress flares and had not informed the coastguard of the expedition. The prosecution highlighted the resignation of two instructors from the Centre a year earlier in protest at poor safety conditions. Mr Kite was sentenced to three years imprisonment (reduced to two on appeal) and the company was fined £60,000. The Centre’s manager Joseph Stoddart was acquitted of manslaughter.

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Death of George Kenyon in May 1988
In December 1989, Norman Holt, Director of David Holt Plastics, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of one of the company’s employees, 25 year old George Kenyon, who died in May 1988 when his body was dragged into the blades of a plastic crumbing machine. The Crown Prosecution Service accepted a ‘not-guilty plea’ from fellow Director, David Holt, with the judge ordering that the case ‘remain on file’. No company was prosecuted for manslaughter. The company and both directors were fined a total of £47,000 for health and safety offences.

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