17 December 2024
Details of health and safety prosecutions taken in the Royal Court in 2024.
Skinner Skips Ltd
The Health and Safety Inspectorate (HSI) investigated a serious crush injury to an employee of Skinner Skips Ltd which occurred whilst carrying out on-site lorry brake testing on a HIAB truck.
HSI found that the company:
- did not maintain a safe system of work for the testing of brakes on a HIAB truck
- failed to conduct a risk assessment in relation to this work; and
- failed to provide training and supervision to employees when conducting motor vehicle repairs
The company were charged with a breach of Health & Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989. Following a three-day trial in the Royal Court they were found guilty of the offence and fined £55,000 plus costs.
Full judgement at - AG v Skinner Skips Limited 22-Mar-2024
Sutherland & Le Sauteur
John Sutherland (paramedic) and Thomas Le Sauteur (technician) were charged as employees for a contravention of the Health & Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989. The case concerned their failure to take reasonable care of a patient who had called the Ambulance Service reporting that he had taken an overdose. The Defendants requested police assistance. The patient’s condition deteriorated, and he sadly died whilst both the Defendants and Police Officers attended to him. The incident was recorded on CCTV and by the Police Officers’ body-worn cameras.
Following an initial Police investigation the case was referred to HSI. As Health and Safety Law imposes duties on all those involved with working activities additional evidence was collected to allow for the widest consideration of both employer and employee compliance with legal obligations.
Specialists in pathology and pre-hospital care provided expert opinion, the Defendants commissioning their own experts. The Pathologists had no disagreement of opinion and produced a joint report. The pre-hospital care experts had some disagreement but crucially they both agreed that in the period between the Police arriving and the patient going into cardiac arrest, the Defendants fell below the standard to be expected of a reasonably competent paramedic and technician.
Following an eight-day trial both employees were found guilty of the offence. A two-year conditional discharge was imposed and a contribution to costs was ordered.
The facts of the case and judgement is available at - AG v Sutherland and Le Sauteur 16-Jul-2024
The defendants sought leave to appeal their conviction. The Court of Appeal found that the original verdict was reasonable and supported by the evidence; and that there were no other grounds to conclude there had been a miscarriage of justice, the body-worn footage and agreed expert evidence meant this was an overwhelming case. Accordingly, the application to appeal was dismissed and the original conviction upheld.
The appeal application judgement is available at - Le Sauteur and Sutherland v HM Attorney General 23-Oct-2024
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