Corporate manslaughter: company and owner sentenced
R v Peter Mawson and Peter Mawson Ltd (2015) Preston Crown Court, February 3
Peter Mawson, the owner of Peter Mawson Ltd, a building and joining company, has been sentenced for health and safety breaches. The company has been fined for corporate manslaughter.
Significant points of the case
In October 2011 Jason Pennington, an employee of the company, was working on a roof at a farm. He fell 7 metres through a skylight onto a concrete floor and suffered fatal injuries.
In December 2014 the company and Mawson pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter and to health and safety offences. It was admitted by the company and Peter Mawson that they had failed to utilise a safe system of work and failed to use the proper safety equipment to ensure the safety of the workers.
Mawson was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, 22 hours unpaid work, a publicity order to be posted in the company’s website and a half-page statement in the local newspaper, plus £31,500 costs.
The company was fined £200,000 for corporate manslaughter plus £30,000 under section 2, HSWA, for failing to ensure the health and safety of employees.
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