Corporate manslaughter charges brought against Pontins

What happened?

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, which trades as the holiday park operator Pontins, to be charged with corporate manslaughter.  Stephen Bennison, who was a contractor at the site, has also been charged with an offence under the Health and Safety at Work, Etc Act 1974 (the “HSWA”). 

The criminal prosecution follows an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police and Somerset Council into the death of Wendy Jones in August 2019 following an incident at Brean Sands Holiday Park in Somerset. During a bingo evening in the park’s entertainment centre, known as the ‘Fun Factory’, around 40m of the ceiling and air conditioning ducting collapsed onto guests, fatally injuring Ms Jones and injuring 17 others.

The defendants appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 6 May 2025:

• Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd is charged with corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which is punishable by a fine without any upper limit (sentencing guidelines anticipate fines up to and even above £20m).
• Stephen Bennison is charged with a breach of section 3 (failure to discharge a general health and safety duty to a person other than an employee) of the HSWA, which is punishable by up to 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine without any upper limit.

Is this becoming more common?

We wrote in February [Rare manslaughter charges brought against UK Athletics and a former senior official - Burges Salmon] that corporate manslaughter charges have, historically, been relatively rare.  There have been 32 convictions of corporate manslaughter since the offence was introduced by the 2007 Act, which is around 3 per year.  However, prosecutions for corporate manslaughter are on the increase.

The CPS is also showing an increasing interest in senior individuals at corporations who may be guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, which relates to conduct that is exceptional and shows “such indifference to an obviously serious risk to life”.  No charges have been brought against any directors or senior employees at Pontins; gross negligence manslaughter charges are more common in relation to those involved in the management of small companies accused where they tend to have more involvement in day-to-day operations and are therefore more likely to be closer to the company’s wrongdoing.

The charge against Mr Bennison is a breach of Section 3 of the HSWA.  The penalty for this offence if convicted will be imprisonment up to 2 years and/or a fine without any upper limit.

This article was written by Jemimah Lack.

If you have any questions relating to these offences, and the criminal law as it applies to fatal accidents, please contact Guy Bastable, Charlotte Whitaker or Ben Davies in our Corporate Crime and Investigations team.