Simon Antrobus and Alice Jarratt successfully secured the acquittal of a site manager charged with gross negligence manslaughter
Simon Antrobus and Alice Jarratt successfully secured the acquittal of a site manager charged with gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the death of a young female lawyer, crushed to death by the collapse of large window frames, weighing over half a tonne, as she passed by a construction site in Hanover Street, central London.
The trial involved six other defendants and lasted 8 weeks at the Old Bailey, with one other Defendant convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment. The jury acquitted the site manager of manslaughter but convicted him of a breach of s.7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. At a sentencing hearing on 5 May 2017 the trial judge, His Honour Peter Rook KC was persuaded, following mitigation, to suspend the sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment.