Directors’ Sentences Suspended Following Manslaughter Acquittals
Simon Antrobus KC and Dominic Kay KC represented two directors of a commercial roofing company acquitted last year of gross negligence manslaughter by a jury sitting at Cirencester (Nightingale) Crown Court, and who have now received suspended sentences at the follow-up sentencing hearing in relation to their convictions under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The case related to the death of a 30-year old employee who had been with the company for 6 months when he fell through a fragile rooflight during the course of overcladding works on a warehouse in Bristol in August 2020.
Following submissions at the sentencing hearing, the trial judge, Mrs Justice Jefford DBE, accepted that on the evidence at trial the Defendants’ culpability was ‘medium’ (not ‘high’ as contended by the Crown) but that likelihood of fatal (Level A) harm was ‘high’ and that the offending was a significant contribution towards the death of the employee. Jefford J took into account the significant personal mitigation that existed, not least that the employee was a friend of each director, and was persuaded at the sentencing hearing (which took place at Bristol Crown Court on 6 January 2025) to suspend the custodial sentences of 10 months for a period of 18 months. The company (a small company under the sentencing guideline) was fined £160,000.
This brings to an end the criminal investigation and trial process which lasted well over 4 years. Simon and Dominic were instructed by DWF LLP, notably David Egan, Caroline Depledge and Felicity Woolley and Mark Thompson, Prem Thakor and Eloise Adams respectively.
