£2.15 million fine for company following corporate manslaughter conviction

Allan Compton KC prosecuted Ward Recycling Ltd at Teesside Crown Court in December 2023. Following a trial, the company was convicted of corporate manslaughter and breaches of s2 and s3 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The convictions arose from the death of a picker who was crushed to death by an 18 tonne shovel loader used by the company at their recycling plant in Hartlepool. The investigation revealed long-standing failures to separate pedestrian and plant traffic inside what purported to be a brand new, ‘state of the art’ recycling plant. At a sentencing hearing on Friday 26^th January 2024, the Recorder of Middlesborough fined the company a total of £2.15 million.