Case studies

Health & safety and criminal prosecutions

Examples of our work in this area

• We recently worked with a foundation trust in relation to a joint police and Health & Safety Executive investigation following a fatality allegedly attributable to fault.  Our experience of similar cases in the past allowed our client to retain a strong degree of input into the investigation process and to have to hand documentation and related information before it was requested.  The favourable impression started at the outset of the investigation, which proceeded all the way to interviews under caution with the joint investigators, was a contributing factor to the decision to take no further action against our client.
• When a client’s staff member was killed by a patient, we worked with the HSE, the police, and, latterly, the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that our client’s internal inquiry could proceed swiftly and without contaminating the separate criminal prosecution of the patient. We were able also to predict the extent to which police and HSE investigations would affect our client’s staff and to enable support to be provided to personnel undergoing interviews with the HSE. In the HSE prosecution which followed the fatal incident our briefings enabled decisions to be made in full knowledge of the available options and likely outcomes in each case. This approach made it possible to enter an early plea and to benefit from the imposition of a relatively light penalty at the Central Criminal Court. Most importantly we helped maintain good relations between the Trust and the victim’s family as well as between the Trust and the investigating authorities thus helping preserve its public reputation.