New Sentencing Guidelines Propose Harsh Prison Sentences For Gross Negligence Manslaughter

13/07/2017

On 4^th July 2017, the Sentencing Council announced a consultation on its proposals for new sentencing for the offence of manslaughter in England and Wales.

Health and safety cases have been singled out for increases in prison terms, with sentences of up to 18 years being proposed in the most serious cases.

Reporting on the consultation on 4 July 2017 The Daily Telegraph, under the heading ‘Judges told to issue tougher sentences for gross negligence manslaughter in the wake of Grenfell and Hatfield’ reported:

 “The new sentencing rules for gross negligence manslaughter published today propose that “cost cutting” offenders who have a “serious disregard” for safety of others should receive more severe penalties.”

What is gross negligence manslaughter?

Gross negligence manslaughter is where a person who owes a duty of care breaches that duty, which in turn causes (or contributes to) the death of the victim, and having regard to the risk involved, the offender’s conduct was so bad as to amount to a criminal act or omission.  In a press release, published by the Sentencing Council, it said that gross negligence manslaughter can cover cases involving health and safety breaches at work.  One of the case studies given concerns a fatality at a construction site.

How are the proposed sentencing guidelines for gross negligence manslaughter set out?

The proposed guidelines are set out in a step-by-step guide that judges must follow when determining sentences.

The first step involves assessing the culpability of the offender.  The sentencing judge must consider the context of the negligent act or omission that caused death, the role the offender played, their understanding of the risk of death, the length of time the negligence persisted, and how they acted after the event.

Culpability is then separated into four categories; very high, high, medium and lower. 

An example of high culpability is where the offender persisted in the negligent act or omission despite the fact the victim was suffering or was motivated by financial gain.  Low culpability may be found if the offender never intended to cause any harm to the deceased and there was no obvious risk of anything more than minor harm occurring.

Once the culpability level has been established, the sentencing judge must identify a starting point.  The range of sentences (from one year to 18 years’ imprisonment) is spread over the four categories so there will be only four possible starting points; 12 years, 8 years, 4 years and 2 years for culpabilities of ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘medium’ and ‘low’, respectively. 

Additional factors which may aggravate or mitigate the offence should then be considered by the sentencing judge and appropriate weight attributed to them.

Aggravating factors can include:

• previous convictions          

• significant mental or physical suffering caused to the deceased        

• the victim’s death occurred in the context of dishonesty or the pursuit of financial gain          

• attempts were made to cover up the event         

• the offender tried to place the blame for the victim’s death on others  

Mitigating factors may include:

• no previous convictions          

• the offender shows genuine remorse          

• the offender has previously shown past good character/exemplary conduct         

• the offender is the sole, primary carer for dependent relatives

Changing climate?

On 30 June 2017 construction manager Andrew Winterton, after a nine-week trial, was jailed for gross negligence manslaughter, after a workman was crushed to death on a building site. Winterton, was in charge of the site, being developed by his company Conquest Homes. In September 2014, the walls of a deep trench at the site collapsed, crushing workman Shane Wilkinson who was standing near the edge. Under the new proposals, it is likely that Winterton would have received a longer prison sentence.

Business owners wishing to respond to the consultation  have until 10^th October 2017.  The guidelines are expected to come into force for sentences imposed from December 2018.

Fisher Scoggins Waters is a London based law firm who are experts in construction, manufacturing and engineering law.  If you have any questions about health and safety matters or require an emergency response to an incident, please phone us on 0207 993 6960.