Corporate Manslaughter – Are Directors The Bait?

Today, Lion Steel Equipment Limited ("Lion Steel") became the third company to be sentenced for the new offence of corporate manslaughter when it was fined £480,000 plus Prosecution costs of £84,000.

However, what is truly remarkable about this case is that Lion Steel pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter even though it was not on trial for that offence at the time! The obvious question to ask is why?

The answer is the pressure placed on the company's directors (who were on trial individually for offences of gross negligence manslaughter and breaches of health and safety legislation) by the prosecution.

With the prospect of a possible custodial sentence (gross negligence manslaughter attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment), this article looks at directors' duties and whether the tactics adopted by the Prosecution in focussing on the company's directors made them feel sufficiently vulnerable to allow the company to plead guilty to a charge that was