The bar to successful conviction for corporate manslaughter is very high. As Thompsons solicitors set out after the mine manager and mine owner of the Gleision Mine, in which four miners drowned, were found not guilty of manslaughter: “Getting a conviction on a charge of corporate manslaughter is very difficult, as the prosecution has to prove the manager’s actions amounted to gross negligence, which is a hugely difficult legal burden. You can be careless, you can be negligent — and have men die as a result — but unless it is gross negligence, you walk free.”