Man Convicted of Gross Negligence Manslaughter – Warwick Crown Court

Following a Warwickshire Police investigation, a man has today been convicted of gross negligence manslaughter.

James Atkins, 43, of London Road, Willoughby, appeared at Warwick Crown Court today (Monday 14 December) where he was found guilty by a jury.

At around 6.15pm on the evening of 26 August 2017, James’ partner, 40-year-old Deana Simpson (pictured below), was electrocuted in a caravan the couple lived in on the farm. The farm was owned by James’ father Trevor Atkins, and the caravan was powered by an on-site generator.

Deana was found collapsed by the cooker, having been preparing food for a BBQ. When James tried to resuscitate her, he also received an electric shock.

He rang for an ambulance 15 minutes after Deana was found, and by the time paramedics arrived, all electrics had been switched off at the property.

A 999 recording of the call for an ambulance subsequently picked up a conversation about the electrics being switched off.

Deana was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, and a post-mortem later confirmed her cause of death as electrocution.

Throughout the course of the subsequent investigation, it was established that the generator had been worked on several weeks earlier by James Atkins (who was not a qualified electrician) to fit a new invertor, despite him being told the work required a qualified electrician to undertake it.

Five days after the incident, a fully qualified electrician (and a registered expert witness) attended the scene and examined the electrical installation. He found it was in a poor and dangerous condition, and the potential for electric shock was immediately obvious, with poor and incorrect connections, no proper adequate earthing and no protective devices as required by manufacturer’s instructions.

Trevor Atkins, 72, also of London Road, Willoughby had previously pleaded guilty to two health and safety violations*.

It was deemed at court that Trevor had been complicit with the work his son had carried out on his property, and as an employer, he also had a duty to maintain the electrical system relating to the caravan so it was not dangerous. As Deana lived in the caravan, he also had a duty of care and a duty to ensure she was not exposed to risks to her safety. It was deemed he had therefore breached those duties.

They will both be sentenced on Thursday (17 December).

Following the outcome, investigating officer, Detective Constable Hazel Charlton from Warwickshire Police Major Investigation Unit said: “I would like to praise Deana’s family and friends for their patience and full co-operation throughout what has been a lengthy and often challenging process.

“They have had to come to terms with the sudden loss of a much loved family member and friend, and then had to endure a harrowing and protracted investigation to finally bring about a satisfactory conclusion to the circumstances surrounding Deana’s death.”

Following today’s court outcome Deane’s family issued this tribute to her:

“To our beautiful Mother, Daughter, Sister, Granddaughter, Auntie, Niece and Cousin.

“We think about you always,

We talk about you still, 

You have never been forgotten, 

And you never ever will, 

We hold you close within our hearts, 

And there you will always remain, 

To walk and guide us through our lives,

Until we meet you again. 

 

“Rest in perfect paradise our angel, we will love you forever.”

Deana’s family has asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.

 

*Trevor Atkins previously pleaded guilty to the following offences:

• Contravened a Health and Safety Regulation contrary to sec 33(1) of the Health and safety at work act 1974
• Failed to discharge the duty to persons other than employees owed by virtue of sec 3 (1) the health and safety at work act 1974.

 

Issued: HCB, Corporate Communications