Labour Research May 2005

Health & Safety Matters

Manslaughter case collapses

The corporate manslaughter case against Barrow borough council over an outbreak of legionnaires' disease in 2002 collapsed last month.

Although seven people died and 172 were seriously ill as a result of the infection, caused by an air conditioning system at a council-owned arts centre, the judge has instructed the jury to find the council not guilty.

The manslaughter case against the council's head of building design services resumed this month.