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Comments after recent Court cases in the UK

                           BARROW IN FURNESS OUTBREAK 2002

                            Relatives call for memorial to legionnaires' victims
                                       25/04/2005                                       
 

                                      FAMILIES bereaved by the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak are calling for a memorial to their loved ones. They also want
                                      the tribute to acknowledge all those affected by the deadly bacteria, which was pumped out on to shoppers in Barrow
                                      town centre in summer 2002.The relatives believe Barrow Borough Council should pay for the memorial. They say it would
                                      compensate, partly, for the authority not having apologised to the public for the outbreak coming from the council-owned
                                      Forum 28.
                                     Andrew Macaulay, whose granddad Richard was the first confirmed victim said: “We would just like something that says
                                     Barrow remembers .“It would be rather poignant if the    council provided the memorial."
                                           
                                                 
                                     22 April 2005
                                     Barrow Borough Council, which owns Forum 28 and employs Beckingham, was cleared of corporate manslaughter midway
                                     through the trial, but pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

                                     After the jury was discharged, relatives of those who died in the outbreak held a press conference in which they
                                     demanded a retrial and demanded that Beckingham and Barrow Borough Council Chief Executive
                                     Tom Campbell resigned.

                                     Mr Macauleys grandson Andrew Macauley, 43, from Letchworth, Hertfordshire, said: We feel very strongly that Tom Campbell,
                                     who was responsible for health and safety at the council, has not resigned his position and we demand that he does.

                                     We have never received an apology and we feel we deserve one.
                                     Tom Campbell should resign his position and so should Gillian Beckingham on the grounds that they have both been found guilty of
                                     very, very serious health and safety offences.                     
                                     Mrs Somervilles son Mark Somerville, 35, from Askem, near Barrow, said: We want a retrial. We want justice.

                                     Widower Bill Merewood, 62, from Barrow, said: I lost my wife Christine and my sons lost their mother and it wasnt their fault.
                                     It was Barrow Borough Councils fault.

                                     He added: We are very disappointed that Barrow Borough Council was acquitted of the manslaughter charges on a point of law.

                                                 Retrial ordered over bug deaths

                                                 Monday, 25 April, 2005
                                                 An architect accused of the manslaughter of seven people who died in an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease is to face
                                   a retrial.
                                     Gillian Beckingham, 46, was charged with seven counts of manslaughter following the outbreak in Barrow, Cumbria, in
                                     July and August 2002.
                                     A jury found her guilty of breaching the Health and Safety Act.    
                                     But it was discharged on Friday after failing to reach a verdict on the manslaughter charges.
                                     On Monday, Alistair Webster QC, prosecuting, said at Preston Crown Court that the Crown Prosecution Service had
                                    decided Beckingham, of Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, should face a retrial.
                                     He told the court: "Careful consideration has been given at a senior level within the CPS and we are of the view that
                                     the public interest requires a retrial in this case."
                                     Sentencing on the breach of the health and safety laws was adjourned until after the conclusion of the retrial, for which
                                     no date has yet been set.
                                     Beckingham was given unconditional bail.

*******
A humidifier in a buffet unit in the dining room of the Copthorne Hotel in Cardiff
was found to be the source of the outbreak.

Legionnaires' deaths: three cleared

13 May 2005

                                      Three men were cleared of manslaughter charges after the deaths of two people from Legionnaires' disease.                               

                                      A humidifier in a buffet unit in the dining room of the Copthorne Hotel in Cardiff was found to be the source of the outbreak,
                                      Cardiff Crown Court had heard.
                                      Linda Johnson and Philip Roberts both died of the Benidorm strain of the disease after visiting the hotel months apart.
                                      The £32,500 piece of equipment had been installed at the hotel by Link Unit (Engineers) Ltd, based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire

                                      Its managing director Kevin Kempen, contract and site manager Mark Perry and Frederick Jones, a self-employed contractor who
                                      carried out work for the firm, were charged with two counts of manslaughter each following the deaths
                                      The manslaughter charges were dropped after the prosecution said it was offering no evidence.

                      Legionnaires' Disease Victim Wins Big Damages Settlement
February 2005

                                    The victim of one of Britain’s worst Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks has won an out of court settlement for hundreds of thousands of
                                     pounds, it emerged today.Andrew Parfitt, 49, was left with permanent brain injuries after contracting the disease seven years ago.

                                    Three pensioners died and a further 11 people became ill after mist infected with Legionnaires’ disease was pumped into the
                                     atmosphere from cooling towers at IMCO Plastics Ltd in Glastonbury, Somerset.
                                     Virginia Wall, 76, Mike Carroll, 72 and Rita Spencer, 68, died as a result of the outbreak in the autumn of 1998.

                                     IMCO was fined £70,000 for breaching Health and Safety at Work measures by failing to maintain its water cooling system.

                                      Manslaughter charges against IMCO – which is no longer trading – and the company’s then managing director Michael Lewis
                                     were stayed in 2003 after Mr Lewis was judged unfit to stand trial.

                                     Mr Parfitt, from Ditcheat, Somerset, was expecting to become a university lecturer at the time he contracted the disease.

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