Whilst the recent case of R v ATE Truck & Trailer Sales Limited provides a reminder to litigants that judges are not bound by parties’ agreed bases of plea, it also serves to point out that judges will not necessarily be correct to depart from them.

Facts of the case

The defendant allowed a scrap metal dealer, Mr Price, to occupy part of its site in Wolverhampton to dismantle old trucks and trailers. On 21 February 2013, the roof of the curtain-sided trailer that Mr Price was working on fell and struck him on the head causing fatal injuries. The investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”) following the incident concluded that Mr Price’s method of work was unsafe. Although the defendant had various safety procedures and systems, employed health and safety consultants and maintained a significant number of risk assessments, there was no written health and safety risk assessment for dismantling curtain-sided trailers when carried out by the defendant’s own employees. However, the defendant considered that it had no responsibility for Mr Price’s activities. The defendant had made no effort to advise Mr Price of the method adopted by the defendant for carrying out the same activity. Mr Price had his own defined area for work within the defendant’s premises and the defendant had no expertise for the work that Mr Price carried out, as he had been undertaking this work for the defendant since the late 1990s.