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CCA
RESPONSE TO CPS DECISION TO PROSECUTE OVER HATFIELD
DISASTER
David
Bergman, Director of the CCA said:
"The
decision to prosecute two large companies over the
Hatfield disaster is very significant.
It
is very rare for the Crown Prosecution Service to
prosecute a large company for manslaughter. There
have only ever been five companies convicted of
manslaughter - all of which have been small companies.
[To see more about previous prosecutions and
convictions, click
here]
This
is because the law requires that a company director
or senior manager is prosecuted as an individual
for the offence, before the company - a separate
legal entity - can be prosecuted.
It
is therefore necessary to have sufficient evidence
to prosecute a director or senior manager of the
company before the company itself can be prosecuted.
It
is difficult to prosecute directors or senior managers
of large companies - even though there may be some
very serious failures on the part of the company
or individuals for a number of reasons including:
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the
law does not impose any positive duty upon company
directors to take action to ensure that their
company complies with health and safety law; |
| • |
in
large companies, safety responsibilities can
be diffuse and shared amongst amongst a number
of different managers and directors; |
There
have only ever been two large companies that have
been prosecuted for manslaughter - both of which
failed:
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P&O
European Ferries over the Zeebrugge Disaster
which killed 192 people in 1997. The trial collapsed
at its early stages when the Judge ruled there
was insufficient evidence against any director
or senior manager |
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Great
Western Railways over the Southall Train Crash
which killed 7 people in 1997. The CPS tried
to prosecute the company without prosecuting
any individual director or manager. The court
ruled that the case could not go ahead on this
basis. " |
Four
people died in the crash on October 17, 2000: Robert
Alcorn, Stephan Arthur, Leslie Gray and Paul Monkhouse.
One hundred and two other passengers and staff suffered
injuries of varying severity.
Two
companies have received summonses for offences of
manslaughter:
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Network
Rail Infrastructure Limited formerly Railtrack
plc (owner and manager of the rail infrastructure); |
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Balfour
Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services Limited formerly
Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance Limited (the infrastructure
maintenance contractor to Railtrack plc for this
part of the East Coast Main Line). |
The
following individuals have been
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Charles
Nicholas Pollard (Director of the London North
East Zone of Railtrack plc) |
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Alistair
Cook (Infrastructure Contracts Manager of the
London North East Zone of Railtrack plc) |
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Sean
Brett Fugill (Area Asset Manager of the London
North East Zone (South) of Railtrack plc) |
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Anthony
Robin Walker (Regional Director until 11 August
2000 of Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance Limited) |
| • |
Nicholas
Paul Jeffries (Civil Engineer for Balfour Beatty
Rail Maintenance Limited) |
The
CPS have also said that a further employee of Railtrack
plc is expected to be charged this afternoon.
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To
read about previous prosecutions and convictions
of companies and directors of manslaughter, click
here. Please note that |
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To
read about government proposals to reform the
law of manslaughter, click
here. |
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To
download the CPS Press release relating to their
decision to charge the two companies and six individuals
over the Hatfield disaster, click
here (word document) |
To
contact the CCA, call 020 7 490 4494
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