Spending Money Like Water

In fining Thames Water £20.3m for a catalogue of environmental offences, Judge Francis Sheridan smashed the previous record fine by more than 10 times. In doing so, he undoubtedly loosened the judicial shackles when sentencing our largest organisations, warning that "it should not be cheaper to offend than to take appropriate precautions". With sentencing in health and safety cases subject to an almost identical guideline, what happens now?

Proportional fines

The Courts apply Definitive Guidelines for sentencing both environmental and health and safety cases (the "Guidelines"). The Guidelines require Courts to classify organisations principally by reference to turnover. Having done so, there are identifiable starting points and financial ranges for Judges to apply when sentencing.