Mike Atkins

Manslaughter and Health & Safety

Mike is frequently instructed in the most serious and high-profile cases, including prosecutions for Corporate and Gross Negligence Manslaughter, health and safety offences, and appeals against prohibition and improvement notices.

He regularly advises and represents multinational and household name companies as well as directors, employees and public bodies. His clients have included Morrisons supermarkets, John Lewis, Topshop and the Arcadia Group, Network Rail, South Western Railway, Sisk Rail, Electricity North West, Bupa, Sanctuary Housing, JCB, Liebherr, HJ Heinz, CEMEX, Mace Group, Serco, Shepherd Neame, and numerous local authorities and NHS Trusts.

He has experience across a wide range of industries including construction and demolition, work at height, manufacturing and technology, rail and transport, retail and hospitality, sport and leisure, warehousing and logistics, waste management and recycling, mining and quarrying, work with asbestos, gas and electrical safety, medical treatment, nursing and residential care, schools and nurseries, and road traffic accidents.

He has considerable experience of Fire Safety work. He is instructed in relation to the Grenfell Fire disaster and was junior counsel to the Coroner in the Lakanal House tower block fire inquests. He regularly advises businesses regarding their fire safety obligations and represents clients in relation to appeals against enforcement notices and prosecutions for breach of fire safety law. He has considerable experience of fire safety in the context of industrial processes including DSEAR, COSHH, and related legislation.

He has developed particular expertise in rail industry work, acting on behalf of Network Rail, train operating companies (TOCs), and railway industry contractors. He has also previously acted on behalf of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

He regularly advises on challenges to invoices issued under the HSE Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme.

Environmental Law

Mike frequently advises and represents clients in relation to investigations and prosecutions for environmental offences relating to water pollution and breaches of permit conditions. Mike is currently instructed to represent a former company director in a substantial EA investigation relating to the management of controlled waste.

Selected Cases

Manslaughter, Health & Safety, and Fire Safety

• Instructed to advise a former director in connection with a manslaughter investigation following an explosion at a COMAH manufacturing site.
• Instructed on behalf of a senior individual in connection with the Grenfell Fire disaster.
• Representing a specialist engineering business in connection with the inquest into the death of an engineer during the servicing of rooftop access equipment.
• Instructed (with Simon Antrobus K.C.) to advise a utility supplier in an offshore jurisdiction facing a multi-fatality manslaughter investigation.
• Representing a company and its managing director in a prosecution following a fire at a care home and in the related appeals against enforcement notices.
• Representing a provider of children’s clubs and activities following a near-drowning during a swimming session.
• Junior Counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) instructed on behalf of the demolition contractor in relation to the Didcot Power Station collapse.
• Representing an insurance business in connection with the inquest into the death of a security guard who was lone-working during a night shift.
• Junior counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) for Eurotunnel in a prosecution following an accident in which an inspector of lifting equipment suffered serious injuries.
• Representing a manufacturing business and its directors following a fatal accident caused by the collapse of test racking.
• Representing the owners of a building in connection with an investigation by the local Fire and Rescue Authority regarding the evacuation strategy for the building and the extent of compartmentation required.
• Junior counsel (led by Mark Balysz K.C.) for a senior manager acquitted of health and safety offences after a 3-month trial in the Bosley Mill explosion case.
• Advising an HGV manufacturer in the investigation into the death of an engineer carrying out vehicle checks.
• Representing a waste management company in a prosecution following a workplace transport accident in which a driver who had stepped out of their vehicle was struck by a shovel loader and suffered serious injuries.
• Representing a former senior director of a business in a prosecution for inadequate safety controls in the production of biological agents.
• Junior counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) for a social housing provider charged with fire safety offences following a fire in which a resident died. The case was discontinued after service of applications relating to disclosure and abuse of process.
• Represented Sanctuary Housing, one of the UK’s largest social housing providers, in a prosecution for shortcomings in legionella risk management in supported living accommodation.
• Junior counsel (led by Peter Skelton K.C.) for the tram operating company in the inquests and subsequent prosecution arising out of the Croydon Tram disaster.
• Representing a multinational healthcare company in a prosecution following a serious accident during the unloading of a vehicle.
• Representing an asbestos removal business prosecuted after an operative suffered serious injuries in a fall from height.
• Junior counsel (led by Simon Antrobus K.C.) for Topshop and the Arcadia Group in the 3-month trial following the death of a child at a Topshop store.
• Represented a gas distribution network operator in the inquest into the death of a homeowner killed by a domestic gas explosion.
• Represented a railway industry contractor in relation to the inquest into the death of a possession support worker who was killed on the track during planned engineering works.
• Represented a university at the inquest into the death of one of its students.
• Represented the Managing Director of a care home who was prosecuted following a fire in which two residents died.
• Represented a small farming business following a fatal accident in which a telehandler collided with a pedestrian.
• Represented a sole-trader painter and decorator charged after one of his employees fell from a roof and was paralysed from the chest down.
• Represented a lifeguard charged with wilful neglect after an incident in which a child nearly drowned.
• Represented a department store business in the week-long inquest into the death of a student who committed suicide at one of its stores.
• Acted for the operator of a leisure centre in the seven-day inquest into the death of a visitor who was fatally electrocuted when he climbed the fence surrounding an outdoor 5-a-side football pitch.
• Represented a train operating company at the inquest into the death of a passenger who suffered a cardiac arrest during her journey.
• Represented the company which operated a nursing home and its Managing Director in the week-long inquest into the death of a resident who contracted Legionnaires’ disease.
• Represented a train operating company at the inquest into the death of a passenger who jumped onto the outside of a train as it was departing from a station.
• Represented a care home at the week-long inquest into the death of a resident who refused to take his medication and subsequently died of diabetic ketoacidosis.
• Represented a care home in the four-day inquest into the death of a resident who had developed a Grade 4 pressure sore.
• Represented one of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets at the inquest into the death of a customer who collapsed outside one of its stores.
• Junior counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, acquitted of corporate manslaughter after two and a half weeks of trial. The defendant was the first Trust to be prosecuted for the offence. The Trust’s subsequent application for costs thrown away as the result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission is reported as R v Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust [2016] EWHC 779 (QB).
• Junior counsel (led by James Ageros K.C.) for a manager of a recycling company prosecuted following a fatal accident.
• Junior counsel (led by Jonathan Ashley-Norman K.C.) for the ORR in a prosecution following the death of a railway depot worker who was electrocuted when he came into contact with the third rail.
• Represented a senior site manager prosecuted following a serious lifting accident on a building site.
• Junior counsel (led by Ben Compton K.C.) for the owners of a care home prosecuted after an elderly resident suffered fatal scalding injuries.
• Represented an NHS Trust in a prosecution for failure to manage bedrail risks.
• Represented a large engineering company prosecuted for failure to manage the risks associated with vibrating tools.
• Junior counsel (led by James Maxwell-Scott K.C.) to the Coroner in the Lakanal House tower block fire inquests. The inquests lasted 3 months.
• Junior counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) for the Managing Director in the Lion Steel corporate manslaughter case. Not guilty verdicts were returned at Manchester Crown Court after three and a half weeks of trial.
• Secured the acquittal, after a seven-day Crown Court trial, of a director charged with neglect after a member of staff suffered life-changing injuries in a cellar hatch fall.
• Junior counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) in a prosecution of one of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets, including successful argument about the proper interpretation of Sellafield and Network Rail [2014] EWCA Crim 49.
• Represented a household name multinational food manufacturer following a serious guarding accident at a production plant.
• Junior counsel (led by James Maxwell-Scott K.C.) for the company that operates the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston following a fire in an explosives production building.
• Represented a high-profile multinational company specialising in aggregates and building materials after a serious accident at an asphalt batching plant.
• Junior counsel (led by Jamie Hill K.C.) for the senior director of an agricultural construction company. The director was charged with manslaughter after an employee fell from the roof of a large agricultural shed during repair work. The director was acquitted after a three-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
• Represented an Italian espresso machine manufacturer prosecuted for supplying unsafe equipment. Successfully argued that the Court lacked jurisdiction to try the alleged offence.
• Represented a large rail contractor following a serious accident involving a member of the public.
• Represented Britain’s oldest brewing company after an employee was injured by moving cask washing equipment.
• Junior counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) for a demolition contractor prosecuted after two employees were severely injured by the unplanned collapse of a concrete floor during demolition work.
• Represented a letting agent charged with numerous breaches of the Fire Safety Order.
• Represented a large environmental and spill response company following a chemical incident at a client’s site.
• Represented the London Borough of Wandsworth in its successful appeal to the High Court in London Borough of Wandsworth v Covent Garden Market Authority [2011] EWHC 1245 (QB). The case is the leading authority on time limits in the context of appeals against prohibition and enforcement notices.

Environmental Law

• Representing a former company director in a substantial EA prosecution relating to the management of controlled waste.
• Represented a waste treatment company prosecuted for discharges of waste chemicals in breach of permit.
• Represented a large environmental and spill response company following a chemical incident at a client’s site.
• Represented a company charged following an escape of fuel into controlled waters from a storage tank at an oil depot.

Inquests

Mike regularly represents companies, directors, employees, and public bodies at inquests. He has extensive experience of cases in a broad range of contexts including construction and demolition, work at height, the rail industry, manufacturing and technology, waste management and recycling, fire safety, gas and electrical safety, medical treatment, nursing and residential care, schools and nurseries, deaths in custody, and road traffic accidents.

Selected Cases

• Representing a specialist engineering business in connection with the inquest into the death of an engineer during the servicing of rooftop access equipment.
• Junior Counsel (led by John Cooper K.C.) instructed on behalf of the demolition contractor in relation to the Didcot Power Station collapse.
• Representing an insurance business in connection with the inquest into the death of a security guard who was lone-working during a night shift.
• Advising an HGV manufacturer in the investigation into the death of an engineer carrying out vehicle checks.
• Representing a social care provider in connection with the inquest into the death of a resident who took her own life.
• Represented Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch Council in the 2-week inquests into the deaths of two young people who drowned in the sea off Bournemouth beach after being caught in a rip current.
• Instructed to advise The Scout Association in connection with submissions on unlawful killing and neglect in the inquest into the death of a scout who died during a field trip to the Great Orme.
• Represented a local authority at the inquest into the death of a transgender looked after child who took their own life while at a placement arranged by the local authority.
• Represented a swimming pool operator at the inquest into the death of a young child who drowned in the pool.
• Represented a medical equipment manufacturer in the inquest into the death of a child with severe medical conditions at which it was suggested that the equipment was unsuitable and insufficiently maintained.
• Represented a private healthcare provider at the 2-week inquest into the death of a voluntary patient who took her own life.
• Junior counsel (led by Peter Skelton K.C.) for the tram operating company in the inquests and subsequent prosecution arising out of the Croydon Tram disaster.
• Represented Network Rail in an inquest into a death on a level crossing.
• Represented a gas distribution network operator in the inquest into the death of a homeowner killed by a domestic gas explosion.
• Represented a railway industry contractor in relation to the inquest into the death of a possession support worker who was killed on the track during planned engineering works.
• Represented a university in relation to the inquest into the death of one of its students.
• Represented a department store business in the week-long inquest into the death of a student who committed suicide at one of its stores.
• Acted for the operator of a leisure centre in the seven-day inquest into the death of a visitor who was fatally electrocuted when he climbed the fence surrounding an outdoor 5-a-side football pitch.
• Represented a train operating company at the inquest into the death of a passenger who suffered a cardiac arrest during her journey.
• Represented the company which operated a nursing home and its Managing Director in the week-long inquest into the death of a resident who contracted Legionnaires’ disease.
• Represented a train operating company at the inquest into the death of a passenger who jumped onto the outside of a train as it was departing from a station.
• Represented a care home at the week-long inquest into the death of a resident who refused to take his medication and subsequently died of diabetic ketoacidosis.
• Represented one of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets at the inquest into the death of a customer who collapsed outside one of its stores.
• Represented a care home in the four-day inquest into the death of a resident who had developed a Grade 4 pressure sore.
• Represented a catering company at the inquest into the death of a primary school pupil who suffered a severe allergic reaction.
• An inquest into the death of a railway depot worker who was electrocuted when he came into contact with the third rail.
• Junior counsel (led by Ben Compton K.C.) for the care home in an inquest into the death of an elderly resident who suffered fatal scalding injuries.
• A week-long inquest into the death of a motorway worker who was trapped by the boom of a vacuum excavation machine.
• A week-long inquest into the death of a supervisor killed when a silo of ink slipped from the forks of a forklift truck.
• A week-long inquest into the death of a resident at a care home who choked on food.
• A two-week inquest into the death of a member of the public who was struck by a horse and carriage at a country fair.
• An inquest into the death of an infant who suffered serious fireplace burns.
• A two-week inquest into the death of a contractor who fell from a cherry picker.
• A four-day inquest into the death of a driver killed during a police pursuit.
• A two-week inquest into the deaths of two students who were crushed to death at a nightclub in Northampton in 2011.
• An inquest into the death of a patient who failed to recover from anaesthetic following major surgery.
• Instructed to represent Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in the two-week inquest following the trial at which the Trust was acquitted of corporate manslaughter.
• Represented an international carpet company in the five-week inquest into the death of an employee crushed by moving machinery. The case involved detailed consideration of the respective obligations of designers, suppliers and users of machinery.
• Junior counsel (led by James Maxwell-Scott K.C.) to the Coroner in the Lakanal House tower block fire inquests. The inquests lasted 3 months.
• A week-long inquest into the death in custody of a remand prisoner. The case involved detailed examination of the mental health care arrangements at the prison.

Mike has developed a strong practice in Regulatory & Consumer Law, including Food Safety, Product Safety, Consumer Law, the regulation of medical devices, and building regulations. He has an excellent awareness of the regulatory context in these areas and of the law relating to due diligence and other potential defences.

In relation to Food Safety, he is regularly instructed to advise in relation to cases concerning food allergies, food poisoning, the sale of date-expired food, and pest-control.

Selected Cases

• Advised one of the foremost international online marketplaces regarding the appeal of safety notices and the extent of the business’ obligations under consumer and health and safety law.
• Instructed to advise the former directors of a private building control provider in connection with an investigation into alleged inadequacies in the fire safety arrangements at a building where they had provided building control services.
• Advised a foreign food manufacturing business in connection with the investigation into the death of a customer who suffered a severe allergic reaction.
• Represented various clients including one of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets in connection with the alleged sale of date-expired food.
• Represented a restaurant chain prosecuted after a customer was served food containing nuts despite having told staff that she had a severe nut allergy.
• Represented a catering company at the inquest into the death of a primary school pupil who suffered a severe allergic reaction.
• Advised a British food industry association on the compatibility of proposed domestic legislation with European Union law.
• Represented the local authority in a prosecution of a High Street coffee shop chain for food safety offences.
• Represented an Italian espresso machine manufacturer prosecuted for supplying unsafe equipment. Successfully argued that the Court lacked jurisdiction to try the alleged offence.
• Represented a supplier of fire safety equipment at an inquest where it was suggested that the company was responsible for an accident in which a child died.
• Represented a salesman charged with using misleading and aggressive sales practices to sell adjustable and massaging beds to customers. Many of the alleged victims were elderly and vulnerable. Simon Antrobus represented the employer.
• Represented the owner of a restaurant at which inspectors discovered live mice in boxes of food and many other serious breaches of food hygiene legislation.
• Templeton Insurance Ltd v Motorcare Warranties Ltd [2013] All ER (D) 32 (Feb) – Junior counsel (led by Ben Quiney K.C.) for a company director on his successful appeal to the Court of Appeal against a custodial sentence imposed for contempt of court (failure to comply with the terms of a freezing order made by the Commercial Court).