The Court of Appeal has dismissed a prosecution bid to increase a €25,000 workplace safety fine imposed on Patrick Monaghan (Drogheda) Limited following the death of a three-year-old child at Town Quay in Drogheda.
The company had pleaded guilty in May 2012 to failing, as an employer, to conduct its undertaking so that people who were not employees were protected, so far as reasonably practicable, from risks to their safety, health and welfare. It was fined €25,000 and ordered to pay €5,290.55 in expenses. The maximum fine for a corporate offender was €3 million.
The prosecution arose from an accident on 10 November 2009. The stevedoring company was loading timber poles from stacks on the quay, an area with a public right of way. A man and his three-year-old child were nearby when a company employee accidentally disturbed one of the stacks. Poles rolled forward and one struck the child before rolling onto his chest. He later died.
At sentence, a Health and Safety Authority inspector identified several safety shortcomings, including overlapping stacks, inadequate chocking, the absence of an enforced exclusion zone and failure to assess the added risks of working in a public area.
The Director of Public Prosecutions argued that the €25,000 fine was unduly lenient and represented less than one per cent of the maximum available penalty.
However, Patrick Monaghan (Drogheda) Limited raised a preliminary objection. The DPP had attempted to serve the review notice through the company’s solicitor, who declined to accept it. The notice was not then served on a company secretary or other officer at its registered or principal office within the statutory deadline.
The Court of Appeal held that the legislation prescribed a specific mode of service for corporate defendants. Because that requirement was not met, the application was statute barred and had to be dismissed without considering whether the original fine was too low.