Anthony Haycroft represented a £4m turnover construction company at Cambridge Crown Court for sentence on a case brought by the Health & Safety Executive.
An employee had driven a 1 tonne dumper truck with no training nor instruction and turned it over fracturing his leg. The company pleaded guilty to two offences in the Magistrates’ Court. The Magistrates refused to sentence the company because they considered their sentencing powers of up to a maximum of £40,000 were inadequate. Accordingly the Magistrates sent the matter to the Crown Court for sentence where an unlimited fine may be imposed.
The HSE argued this was a case of high culpability with a risk of death. This gave a starting point for a fine of £250,000 under the February 2016 Sentencing Council Guidelines on Health and Safety Offences. Anthony Haycroft persuaded HHJ Hawksworth that this was in fact a medium category case with a starting point of £54,000 for a single offence. The Court was then further persuaded to reduce the fine due to various mitigating factors and also to impose a single fine and not two separate fines.