25 April 2005
folder [featCategs]
Barrow architect faces retrial
[firstParagraph]
THE council architect accused of the manslaughter of seven people in Britain's worst outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Barrow in 2002 is to face a
retrial, after jurors failed to reach verdicts on seven counts of manslaughter at Preston Crown Court last week.
The jury had earlier found Gillian Beckingham guilty of
breaching health and safety laws at the Forum 28 arts centre in the town and the Crown Prosecution Service has decided that Beckingham should now face a retrial on the manslaughter charges.
The court heard that Beckingham's alleged failure to maintain the air-conditioning system led directly to the outbreak which killed seven and infected 172 others during July and August 2002. Throughout the two-month trial, the defendant insisted she was not responsible for the air conditioning system.