This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Crown to consider Transco judgement
03/06/2003
The Crown will study the judgement and implications of the Appeal Court's decision today to overturn Lord Carloway's decision of March 21 that the Crown's charge of culpable homicide against Transco PLC was competent and relevant.
There was uncertainty as to the scope of corporate criminal responsibility in Scotland and the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, had considered it was essential that the Crown enabled the court to consider the legal issues involved.
Today's judgement at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh does not affect the alternative statutory charge made against Transco PLC or any resulting penalties following conviction.
An indictment for culpable homicide was served on February 5, 2003, on Transco PLC following the deaths of a family of four in a gas explosion in Larkhall, Lanarkshire on December 22, 1999.
The case is active under the meaning of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.