Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings was found guilty of corporate manslaughter yesterday afternoon, for failing to ensure the safety of the late Alex Wright FGS. Ted Nield reports.
Geoscientist Online 23 February 2010
Geotechnical engineering firm Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings was found guilty of corporate manslaughter on the 17 February, at Winchester Crown Court. It is the first ever conviction under the Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007.
The jury took 90 minutes to find the small company, which has fewer than 10 employees, guilty of failing to ensure the safety of 27 year-old geologist,
Alexander James Wright FGS.
The company was fined £385,000, which the judge, Mr Justice Field, said it could pay over 10 years. Charges against Director Peter Eaton CGeol, 61, were dropped due to his reportedly terminal cancer – which has prevented him from appearing in court. Eaton was severely criticised in the Judge’s summation.
Wright was working alone in a an unsupported trench (which exceeded the maximum depth for unsupported trenches of 1.2m) at a site in Brimscombe Lane, Stroud, when it fell on top of him in September 2008. The firm denied the charge.