Council prosecuted for manslaughter

Council prosecuted for manslaughter

Barrow Borough Council has become the first council to be charged with manslaughter. The Crown Prosecution Service charged the council in February over the deaths of seven people who died from legionnaires' disease in 2002.

David Bergman, director of the Centre for Corporate Accountability said: "This decision does not reflect any change in the law but a change in the way work-related deaths are investigated. Since the introduction of new police procedures in 1998, work-related deaths now tend to be subject to manslaughter investigations."