New Sentencing Guidelines for Gross Negligence Manslaughter

Significant changes to the law were published today. Negligent employers and managers in England and Wales who blatantly disregard employee safety could be sentenced to up to 18 years in prison under the new court Sentencing Guidelines for Gross Negligence Manslaughter

These guidelines will come into force on 1 November and mark the first time the Sentencing Council has provided instructions to courts on how to deal with offenders convicted of gross negligence manslaughter. They identify factors that would make the offence particularly serious.

Sentences of between ten and eighteen years in prison for the worse offenders

An individual’s culpability would be put at the highest level for a longstanding and serious disregard for the safety of employees, motivated by financial gain (or avoidance of cost), warranting a prison sentence between ten and 18 years (see table below).

Evidence that the negligent conduct persisted for a long period of time will result in a jail sentence between six and 12 years under the new guidelines. If the offender’s culpability is deemed to be a lapse in otherwise satisfactory standards of care, the jail term will be in the range of one to four years.

Aggravating factors include previous convictions, an offender ignoring earlier warnings or putting others at risk of harm, or involving others through coercion, intimidation or exploitation.

Mitigating features are a lack of previous convictions, attempts to assist the victim, co-operation with the enforcing authority’s investigation, that the offender was stressed or pressured, or, for reasons beyond their control, they lacked the necessary equipment, training or knowledge which contributed to the negligent conduct.

The Sentencing Guidelines for Gross Negligence Manslaughter also apply to unlawful act manslaughter, manslaughter due to loss of control and manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

Starting point and category range for a single offence of manslaughter resulting in a single fatality

Comments from the Sentencing Council

Overall the Sentencing Guidelines for Gross Negligence Manslaughter are unlikely to change sentence levels but it is expected that in some gross negligence cases sentences will increase. Current sentencing practice in these sorts of cases is lower in the context of overall sentence levels for manslaughter than for other types.