Second trial date for corporate manslaughter case set
Health & Safety update 25/08/2011
A second trial date has now been arranged for the corporate
manslaughter trial of Manchester-based Lion Steel Ltd.
The charge – which falls under the Corporate Manslaughter and
Homicide Act (CMHA) 2007 – follows the death of employee Steven
Berry at the firm's Hyde headquarters in 2008. Mr Berry suffered
fatal injuries after falling through a fragile roof panel. He later
died in hospital.
Alongside the charge levied against the firm, three of its
directors, Graham Coupe, Kevin Palliser, and Richard Williams, are
also to be charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
The men will also be charged under section 37 of the Health and
Safety at Work Act 1974, on the accusation of failing to ensure the
safety of their employees.
The men have already appeared at a preliminary hearing earlier
this month at Manchester Crown Court. If found guilty of the
charges, they – and Lion Steel - could face unlimited fines and
imprisonment. The trial date has now been set as 12 June 2012.
Reviewing Lawyer in the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime
and Counter Terrorism Division, Alison Storey, said, “I have taken
this decision after very carefully reviewing the material gathered
in the police investigation 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.”
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