OTC appear in new Health & Safety precedent
Tim Green was instructed by the HSE in the appeal against sentence brought by John Henry and Sons Limited. The appellant sought to challenge both the sentence and costs ordered by the Recorder of Lincoln following a 3 weeks trial in May 2016.
The judgment of Lord Justice Treacy in this case is important reading for all health and safety practitioners and can be found here.
In particular, the Court of Appeal gave guidance on the following:
- The very limited circumstances in which it will interfere with findings of fact made by a trial Judge which then forms the basis of sentence [para 25].
- The importance of the appellant placing the most recent accounting information available before the sentencing court [para 25-28].
- The importance of the court taking time to take a critical and holistic view of the full accounts for corporate defendants. This includes key performance indicators for the company like gross profit margin, asset values, and shareholder funds as well as turnover [para 25-28].
- The willingness of the Court of Appeal to uphold the discretion of the trial Judge to award substantial costs against a defendant after a trial where this is justified by the circumstances of the particular case [para 36-37]. This can be contrasted with more restrictive approach to costs awarded on appeal in R v Thelwall [2016] EWCA Crim 1755.
Tim Green defends and prosecutes serious regulatory crime. He has been consistently recognised by the independent legal directories for his expertise and skills in this field. Please follow this link for more information about Tim’s expertise.
News 6 Feb, 2018
