Architect not guilty in manslaughter case

1 August 2006

Council Architect Gillian Beckingham was today (31 July 2006) found not guilty of manslaughter following the deaths of seven people after an outbreak of Legionnaire s Disease in Barrow in Furness in 2002, reports Workplace Law Network - http://www.workplacelaw.net

Both she and her employer, Barrow Borough Council, were found guilty under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The council was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay costs of £90,000. Beckingham was fined £15,000.

The judge was heavily critical of Barrow Borough Council, describing its failings as "grave in the extreme". He noted that a commercial organisation acting as negligently as the council would have been fined at least £1m, but took into account that the fine will have to be paid from public finances and effectively borne by the tax payers of Barrow-in-Furness. Speaking of Gillian Beckingham s conduct, he referred to "repeated and serious failings", but took mitigating factors into account, including the lack of training and support she had been given by her employer.

David Sharp of Workplace Law Network - a legal support network for UK businesses with some 60,000 members - commented on the implications of the not-guilty verdict for employers and managers in the UK:

"This case is really important for health and safety law and practice in the UK. A jury of normal men and women has had to decide the critical point where negligence becomes gross negligence, and so whether Gillian Beckingham s mistakes alone added up to a grave failure which led directly to the deaths of the seven people in Barrow. Many of the people responsible for the operation of Forum 28 made mistakes, from the very top of the council right down to the building manager and contractors hired to carry out maintenance.

"In the circumstances, it seems unfair to single out Gillian Beckingham for tougher punishment, though there will doubtless be some who think she has got off lightly.

"This case has some very important implications for managers in the public and private sectors. It is obvious that the decision-making processes and record keeping were simply not good enough. You should make sure that you know whether your job description includes you being responsible for any element of health and safety. If you are, you must make sure risk assessments are carried out and recorded in writing, and that you have a record of any meetings where health and safety is discussed.

"This is especially important where money is concerned, as any hint of compromising health and safety by cutting back on costs is highly risky.

"Finally, you should make sure you are given the training to carry out any health and safety duties that have been identified. The last position any manager wants to find themselves in is to be responsible for health and safety without being competent to do so.

"As for the judge s comments on the council s actions, it shows that there is a great need for corporate manslaughter legislation with real teeth which provides range of alternative penalties. Making the tax payer pay for the poor performance of their local authority is really hard to swallow."

Gillian Beckingham is expected to make a statement to the press shortly.

Background to the case

This is the second time Beckingham has stood trial for manslaughter, after the jury in the first trial failed to reach a sufficient majority verdict.

Beckingham was brought to account as the result of health and safety failings in the way that a council run facility -- called Forum 28 -- was run. Following a change in maintenance contractor, the building had been left without any regular water testing for the presence of legionella in the building s cooling tower. After months of neglect, the bacteria multiplied, escaping as steam out of the Forum 28 building into the passage nearby.

Seven people subsequently died and there were 172 confirmed cases of Legionnaire s Disease in the weeks after the outbreak.

Beckingham was considered by the prosecution to be one of the key people responsible for managing health and safety at the Forum 28 complex, and both she and the council found themselves charged with offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act as well as manslaughter. Manslaughter charges against the council were quickly dropped during the first trial last year leaving Beckingham to face the charges alone.

The fact that Gillian Beckingham has been found not guilty of manslaughter -- while it clearly won t please the families of the deceased -- will be considered by many to be a victory for common sense. There were several complications in this case -- not least the fact that Beckingham was on holiday when a key maintenance contract was signed, and that one of the most important witnesses died before the first trial of a cause unconnected with the case.

The jury in the first trial found it hard to find the defendant guilty of manslaughter when there were so many other parties who had admitted to making mistakes that contributed to the legionella outbreak. The first jury found it hard to understand where negligence had grown into gross negligence, necessary to prove a claim of manslaughter. The defence had also cast doubt on the cause of death of two of the Legionnaires victims, who it claimed died of unrelated causes.

As an architect by profession, Ms. Beckingham claimed she had been given little practical training in such matters as operational health and safety. She denied being responsible for running of Forum 28, where there was, after all, a Technical Manager on site. And there is no doubt that -- with its stretched budgets -- Barrow Borough Council had provided little in the way of health and safety training.

Ends

Notes

1. Workplace Law Network has followed the Gillian Beckingham case from start to finish. There is masses fo information available on our website at http://www.workplacelaw.net, and we are more than happy to provide further information to the media. David Sharp is Managing Director of Workplace Law Network, and regularly provides commentary and information to the media, particularly in news affecting UK employers.

2. Workplace Law Network is the fastest growing legal support service in the country. Some of the UK's biggest employers, including KPMG, Tesco, the BBC and Powergen turn to us for expert advice on the law of the workplace and how it affects them. The Workplace Law Network provides legal support to over 60,000 employers and managers. They know the law does affect them, in all areas of their business. From personnel and employment issues to health and safety and premises management, it's vital to know where you stand.

3. Workplace Law Group, Second Floor Daedalus House, Station Road, Cambridge CB1 2RE, 0870 777 8881, www.workplacelaw.net

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