(217)  Corporate culpable homicide: the Transco case

Arising from a gas explosion in Larkhall in 1999, in which a number of people were killed, the Crown issued an indictment against the gas company Transco.  The indictment contains the first charge of culpable homicide ever libelled against a limited company in Scotland.  On 21 March 2003, Lord Carloway held the charge of culpable homicide to be both competent and relevant. The request to dismiss the indictment was refused. The Court granted Transco PLC leave to appeal.

The trial is now expected to commence on 16 September 2003.  On corporate criminal liability see Richard Mays, The criminal liability of corporations and Scots law: the lessons of Anglo-American jurisprudence, (2000) 4(1) Edinburgh Law Review 46-73.