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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Firm charged over worker's death | Firm charged over worker's death |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A company has become the first in the UK to be charged under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act. | A company has become the first in the UK to be charged under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act. |
| Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings is accused over the death of employee Alexander Wright, 27, who was killed when a pit collapsed in September 2008. | Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings is accused over the death of employee Alexander Wright, 27, who was killed when a pit collapsed in September 2008. |
| The junior geologist was taking soil samples at a site near Stroud in Gloucestershire at the time. | The junior geologist was taking soil samples at a site near Stroud in Gloucestershire at the time. |
| Company director Peter Eaton is charged with gross negligence manslaughter and could be jailed for life if convicted. | Company director Peter Eaton is charged with gross negligence manslaughter and could be jailed for life if convicted. |
| The maximum sentence for the firm is an unlimited fine. | The maximum sentence for the firm is an unlimited fine. |
| Both Mr Eaton and the company face health and safety charges. | |
| The 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act was brought in to make it easier to bring companies to justice over the death of employees. | The 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act was brought in to make it easier to bring companies to justice over the death of employees. |
| 'Duty of care' | |
| Kate Leonard, of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: "Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 an organisation is guilty of corporate manslaughter if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care to the person who died. | Kate Leonard, of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: "Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 an organisation is guilty of corporate manslaughter if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care to the person who died. |
| "A substantial part of the breach must have been in the way activities were organised by senior management. | "A substantial part of the breach must have been in the way activities were organised by senior management. |
| "I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction for this offence." | "I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction for this offence." |
| The parents of Alexander Wright, spoke about their son at the time of his death. | |
| At the time of Mr Wright's death his parents said: "We are absolutely devastated. He was the ideal son you could have asked for." | |
| Peter Eaton is due before magistrates in Stroud on 17 June. |