Convicted fatality firm fined £2
Convicted fatality firm fined £2
A company convicted of workplace safety crimes after a fatal gas blast sent a fireball through its premises has been fined just £2. Campaigners say the case demonstrates the need for specific legal safety duties on company directors, with the prospect of jail terms for serious safety offences. Factory worker Christopher Knoop, 50, was killed and three others were seriously hurt when liquified petroleum gas exploded at North West Aerosols Ltd in Aintree in 2005. Company directors put the firm into voluntary liquidation afterwards. Judge Graham Morrow QC, sitting last week at Liverpool Crown Court, said the tragedy was 'an accident waiting to happen,' but he was only able to impose the 'absurd and unreasonable' fine of £1 for each of two safety offences, and £1 towards costs. He said had the company been making a profit he would have fined it at least £250,000. The company's directors - Stanley Brine, Len Buckland and Jim Milnes - did not attend any of the related court proceedings. HSE said there was not enough evidence to charge them. Mr Knoop's sister Christel Stewart said: 'It's just a joke. There is no justice. I will not let this rest and I intend to fight on, not just for the sake of Christopher but for all the other employees who are put at risk by results like this.' Health and Safety Executive (HSE) principal investigator Keith Morris said he was pleased with the outcome, despite legal costs of nearly £18,000. He said the victims and their relatives had wanted a prosecution, while the trial would also act as a warning to other companies. Members of campaign group Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) joined Christel Stewart outside the court. A spokesperson commented: 'FACK does not think fines for health and safety offences which kill workers or members of the public are a suitable punishment either for justice or for deterrence.' She added: 'FACK feel this case shows the need for directors' duties very starkly. FACK feels that directors running a company and taking the profit, have a moral and legal duty to comply with the law, protect workers, and to be held to account if they fail. We are calling on the government and the HSE to look urgently at the need to change the law to stop other workers being killed.'
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