Peter Horgan acted for a local Borough Council in a Health and Safety case arising out of an accident in which a temporary employee sustained serious life changing injuries

Peter Horgan acted for a local Borough Council. The Council pleaded guilty to offences contrary to s2 and s3 HSWA etc 1974 arising out of an accident in which a temporary employee sustained serious life changing injuries whilst working on the Council’s recycling / refuse collection service. The HSE submitted that this was a case of high culpability with a starting point of £450,000 on the guidelines but that the Court should also consider moving significantly up within that range due to the facts of the case. The learned DJ agreed with defence submissions that this was a case of medium culpability and accepted all the mitigation advanced on its behalf imposing a fine of £40,000.