Second Company charged with corporate manslaughter

Lion Steel Equipment has become the second company to face a charge of corporate manslaughter, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced.

On 1 July, Alison Storey, reviewing lawyer in the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said she had advised Greater Manchester Police to charge the firm under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

 The charge follows the death of Steven Berry from injuries he suffered when he fell through a fragile roof panel at Lion Steel's site in Hyde, Cheshire, in May 2008.

 Lion Steel, which makes storage products including lockers, shelving and cupboards, is only the second firm to be charged under the Act since it came into force in April 2008.

 Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings), the first company to face the charge, was fined £385,000 in February this year over the death of a junior geologist, Alexander Wright, during a trench collapse. 

 The CPS said that three of Lion Steel's directors: Kevin Palliser, Richard Williams and Graham Coupe, have also been charged individually with gross negligence manslaughter.

 As well as the manslaughter charges, the company is accused of failing to ensure the safety of employees, as required under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act; its three directors face the same charge, by virtue of Section 37.

 "I have taken this decision after very carefully reviewing the material gathered in the police investigation," said Storey, "and have concluded that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to bring these charges."

 The first hearing will take place at Tameside Magistrates' Court on 2 August.

Article from HSW