Corporate manslaughter firm ordered to publicise conviction

A building firm which was fined £200,000 following the death of a 28-year-old worker who was fatally crushed when a 2.9 metre retaining wall collapsed onto him, has been ordered to take out an advert on the Construction Enquirer detailing its prosecution.

This is the first time a publicity order has resulted in an advert being taken out in the trade press. Previously notices have appeared in local papers or on a company’s own website.

Linley Developments’ ad will appear throughout December on the Construction Enquirer website.

The site’s pages are viewed around 60,000 times a day, though the advert does not appear on every page.

The firm was fined £200,000 after pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter and the company’s managing director and project manager were both also given suspended prison sentences after pleading guilty to breaching CDM Regulations.

The publicity order states: “Linley Developments Ltd was convicted on 7 September 2015 of corporate manslaughter arising out of the death of Gareth Jones, a subcontracted employee, at a development in St Albans on 30 January 2013.

“Linley Developments Ltd admitted acting in a gross breach of their duty by failing to take sufficient care for his safety. Failings included failing to prepare a risk assessment for the excavation works, failing to assess and monitor the stability of the wall and failing to ensure that the wall did not become unstable as a result of the excavation work.”

SHP edition.