Posted By col Further to the thread which was censored due to the court case being ongoing, please find below the conclusion. I would also appreciate it if some one could explain how she was not grossly negligent and only negligent. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/...land/cumbria/5232086.stm A COUNCIL architect was cleared of manslaughter but fined £15,000 yesterday for her role in Britain's worst outbreak of Legionnaires Disease. Gillian Beckingham was convicted of breaking health and safety laws by cancelling a contract which meant necessary tests were not carried out on the air conditioning at an arts centre in Barrow, Cumbria. Beckingham, 48, head of the Design Services group at Barrow Borough Council, and the council itself received sentences on similar charges at Preston Crown Court yesterday. Five people died and about 172 others were infected after the Forum 28 arts centre air conditioning system became faulty and sprayed deadly Legionnaires bacteria into the air in summer 2002. Among those who recovered from the illness were two men from North Yorkshire who had visited Barrow. Yesterday Beckingham, from Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, who was born in York and studied at Leeds School of Architecture, was cleared of manslaughter after an eight-week retrial. The council pleaded guilty to health and safety failures at the first trial in February 2005. The court heard she cancelled a contract that provided for the upkeep of the air conditioning unit and negotiated another one that did not require the new contractor to use necessary water cooling chemicals. The judge, Mr Justice Burnton, told her: "In my opinion, your failings were repeated and serious. But for the context in which your failings occurred... the result of this trial might have been very different." The judge criticised Beckingham for failing to plead guilty at the first opportunity and said the fine would have been more but for her "limited means". Barrow Borough Council, which was fined £125,000 with £90,000 in costs, ignored repeated warnings about health and safety, the judge said. "This outbreak was a tragedy which should never have happened," he said. "The failings were not only at the lowest levels or at the levels of Ms Beckingham. These failings were all the way to the top of the council." Families of the victims have called for council chief executive Tom Campbell to take responsibility for the council's failures and resign. Until now he has resisted those calls. Speaking outside court, relatives of victims complained about the "whispered apology" from the council which had to be repeated three times in court because it could not be heard from the public gallery. "All the warning signs were there and those responsible didn't do anything about the problem," said Andy Macaulay, whose grandfather Richard died in the outbreak. The prosecution claimed the deaths were "avoidable and unnecessary" and pointed the finger squarely at Beckingham. But she told the court she had never received any health and safety training and denied responsibility for the air conditioning unit. During July and August 2002 thick brown sludge built up inside the cooling towers at the centre because cleaning chemicals were not replaced. The temperature was not controlled and the towers became a perfect breeding ground for the Legionella bacteria. As the bacteria multiplied, they were spewed out into the air, exposing visitors to the centre and shoppers using the adjoining alleyway. At least five people were fatally infected; Richard Macaulay, 88, Wendy Milburn, 56, Georgina Somerville, 54, Harriet Low, 74, and Christine Merewood, 55. The defence claimed two others, Elizabeth Dixon, 80, and June Miles, 56, died from other causes. The jury at the original trial was unable to reach a verdict on the manslaughter charges. Beckingham was found guilty of breaking health and safety rules but cleared by the Court of Appeal. Barrow Borough Council was cleared of corporate manslaughter on the orders of the judge at the first trial but admitted health and safety failures.

Posted By patrick mcilroy i think this lady has been extremely lucky, the responsibility goes with the post, the facts are a lot of people have lost loved ones, in my opinion the individual liability was only negated by the judges comments, " these failings were all the way to the top of the council "

Posted By Robert K Lewis One has to wonder however if she was pushed beyond her own competency levels by her employer. She was after all an architect not an M&E services engineer. The real lessons in this are in the end ones of appropriately competent people undertaking roles. One also has to question a specialist company offering work on such systems but not insisting on appropriate dosing regimes. Bob

Posted By henrys Senior managers within an organisation cannot be expected to know the 'nuts and bolts' of everything within their department; that is why other professionals are employed. What managers should do is consult with those professionals before making a decision. They sometimes forget that decisions they make do have consequences. If they fail to consult and act on the advice given, surely they are negligent. Why was the service contract on the air conditioning system cancelled? I don't know, but I do think that it is inconceivable that someone in this position had never heard of legionnaires' disease or that they didn't know it is linked with this type of air conditioning system. What this case might do (fat chance I hear you say) is make managers realise that they can't make, what often seem like, arbitrary decisions without thinking through the consequences, and seeking advice if they don't understand.

Posted By Jim Walker I've been following this case very carefully over the past few weeks. For me, the damning remark was that at the time of the incident, the council had no full time nor qualified H&S "person" in place. Beckingham was the wrong person to go for (in my humble opinion) the council Chief exec should have been there. Lets hope the new manslaughter law sorts this out. Or are councils able to claim immunity?? Strange thing is...... when I was in an industry that used cooling towers it was the council EHO dept who ran all the checks even though we were a factory - poacher / gamekeeper ???

Posted By Jim Walker For anyone interested, here is a good place to read news reports as the case progressed http://www.nwemail.co.uk/default.aspx Lots on the "front page" but also use the site search under beckingham and you will get chronological reports

Posted By Glyn Atkinson Communication, competence, co-operation, co-ordination, consideration - all lacking in this case ! What goes into every level of learning, and lots of paperwork involving Health and Safety - If in doubt - Ask! It would tragically appear that this project was well beyond the technical and safety knowledge capabilities of the architect, and the governing council body had lost control by allowing a free rein regardless of any possible consequences. It has taken a preventable tragedy to highlight safety failings yet again. My thoughts would be with the families of those who died or suffered serious illnesses, who have to live with this event for years, especially when a court case brings it to public notice again.

Posted By Dave Faragher Being a resident of Barrow my wife and I walked down the alley when this material was being sprayed out we were both covered in a fine mist (guess we were lucky),my point is should the profile of legionnaires disease be raised, for my part had I known what was going on I would most certainly have questioned it, of course I only have the benefit of news reports in the local press but it would appear that these people lost their lives needlessly and I can only offer my condolences to their families which seems pretty pathetic. Who was the controlling mind?

Posted By Jim Walker Who was controlling mind? - Chief Exec surely! His job to ensure resources And comptence for the council to work within the law. I bet his hand soon went up for pay rise/ appraisal as the man that counts. For a moment imagine this had been a private company and say sole owner, How long would he have gone inside for?

Posted By Jeffrey Watt Folks CPS guidance for crown prosecutors on corporate manslaughter. Worth a read. http://www.cps.gov.uk/le.../section5/chapter_b.html Kind regards Jeff

Posted By biliath seem to recall from the original trial that the judge said that the chief exec of a local authority couldn't be a "controlling mind" as they were subject to the power of local councillors who were in turn subject to the wishes of the electorate! Interesting!

Posted By Smurfer ...hence my answer above sometimes I think i'm too cryptic for my own good! ;-)