THE family of a student crushed to death are celebrating after making legal history in their battle to

bring manslaughter charges against his employers.

Simon Jones's family won their High Court case against the Crown Prosecution Service, which has twice refused to bring manslaughter charges against the firm where Mr Jones worked and its general manager.

Yesterday two High Court judges ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions to reconsider the decision not to prosecute following Mr Jones' death. It means the CPS is likely to reconsider the charges for the third time, opening the way for both Dutch-owned firm Euromin and general manager James Martell to face prosecution.

This is the first time judicial review proceedings have been brought against the CPS in a case of alleged corporate manslaughter.

After the case, Mr Jones's father, Chris, 52, said: "It's wonderful. We are very pleased about this decision. We just hope the CPS will now go ahead and decide to prosecute. That's all we've ever asked."

Sussex University student Mr Jones, 24, died working in the hold of a ship at Shoreham Harbour in April 1998 when a mechanical grab crushed his head, almost decapitating him.

He had started work at the harbour as a casual labourer two hours before and had received no formal training.

In court yesterday, James Turner, defending the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the CPS decided not to proceed with charges of manslaughter because the evidence was not strong enough.

He said it could not be shown Mr Martell had been reckless and the CPS did not believe the jury was likely to convict him.

But Lord Justice Buxton and Mr Justice Moses criticised the decision.

Lord Justice Buxton said: "In this case there are unanswered questions such as the danger of the system, the activation of the crane, and the general working arrangements where the crane man could not see into the hold and his guide was someone with no training and who had not done the job before.

"That is why this decision must be reconsidered. I would order the CPS to quash their original decision and order them to reconsider."

The judges ruled the CPS had "not properly addressed the law" when it decided there was "no realistic prospect" of a successful prosecution for manslaughter on the grounds of gross negligence.

They also ruled the CPS had failed to give sufficient reasons to back up its

decision. The hearing was expected to last two days but just two hours into evidence the judges announced they would make a decision in the afternoon.

A CPS spokesman said: "We will be studying the judgment as a matter of urgency. Our decision not to prosecute was taken only after careful review by a senior CPS lawyer and on the advice of leading counsel."

A spokesman for the Centre for Corporate Accountability said the case had serious implications for all decisions made by the CPS not to prosecute directors or senior company officers over workplace deaths.

Euromin declined to comment on the decision.

Last night, friends and relatives of hundreds of other employees who have died or been seriously injured at work held vigils across the country in protest at the lack of prosecutions in such cases.

George Galloway MP, who raised the Jones case in Parliament, said the court decision was "a historic breakthrough in establishing corporate responsibility for the fate of employees to whom they owe a duty of care - a duty too many employers have dodged".

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