Corporate manslaughter – sentencing a small company

[2019] EWCA Crim 1691;[2020] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) Before: Lord Justice William Davis and Mr Justice Julian Knowles

October 2019

Richard Matthews KC appeared for the first defendant company, P Ltd, which was convicted following a trial of corporate manslaughter of one of its employees, who had died after becoming trapped in an industrial oven. It was further convicted of offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, along with the second defendant director, M. In sentencing, the judge expressed his intention that the penalty should bite against the director shareholders whilst at the same time ensuring that the company was preserved for the benefit of its employees. The judge imposed a fine of £200,000 on P Ltd.