Haut du Mont explosion: What is Gross Negligence Manslaughter?

The Law Officers’ Department is apparently considering criminal charges in connection with the Haut du Mont explosion.  No charges have yet been brought.  The individuals against whom charges are now being considered were initially arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

What is gross negligence manslaughter?

In the broadest terms, the offence of gross negligence manslaughter is committed when a death is caused by a grossly (really very seriously) negligent act or omission on the part of the defendant.  Prosecutions are rare. In the UK prosecutions are most frequently brought in the case of deaths following medical treatment or care, deaths in the workplace, and deaths in custody.  However, charges of gross negligence manslaughter are not limited to those categories.

For a prosecution to succeed, the prosecution needs to prove: (1) that the defendant owed a duty of care to the deceased; (2) the defendant (by act or omission) negligently breached that duty of care; (3) the breach(es) of the defendant was a cause of the death; and (4) the negligence of the defendant was so very highly negligent that it amounts to gross negligence and is therefore a crime.

To prove that the defendant’s negligence amounted to gross negligence, the prosecution will have to prove: (1) that a reasonably prudent person in the defendant’s position would have foreseen a serious and obvious risk of death arising from the defendant’s act or omission; and (2) that the breach(es) of the defendant’s duty was, in all the circumstances, so reprehensible and fell so far below the standards to be expected of a person in the defendant’s position (with their qualifications, experience and responsibilities) that it amounted to a crime.  In other words, the prosecution must prove that the defendant’s conduct was truly, exceptionally, bad.  This is a high hurdle.  As courts in the UK have commented: “Mistakes, even very serious mistakes, and errors of judgment, even very serious errors of judgment, are nowhere near enough for a crime as serious as manslaughter to be committed.”

In Jersey, there have been very few cases where gross negligence manslaughter has been prosecuted.  In 1994, Mr Hall was prosecuted for causing the death of a young cyclist whilst Mr Hall was driving his car whilst drunk.  Mr Hall was convicted and sent to prison for three years.  In 2007, the first case of medical gross negligence manslaughter to be prosecuted in Jersey was brought against Dr Moyano, a locum obstetrician, following the death of a patient during a routine operation.  Dr Moyano was found not guilty in 2009.

It is important to remember that gross negligence manslaughter is a criminal offence.  A defendant guilty of ordinary negligence (rather than gross negligence) may still be pursued in a civil claim for damages.

Related articles

Haut du Mont explosion charges being considered | Bailiwick Express Jersey

Haut du Mont: Charges being considered – Channel 103

Evidence about Haut de Mont explosion handed to law officers – BBC News

2022 St Helier explosion – Wikipedia