Private health care provider Bupa has won an appeal against a heavy fine, over the death at a nursing home.
Last June, Ipswich Crown Court fined the firm £3m after it pleaded guilty to failing to implement measures to control and monitor the hot and cold water systems at Hutton Village Nursing Home, which led to the death of Kenneth Ibbetson, who was 86 years old.
He had moved into the Bupa managed care home in March 2015, but soon became unwell in a matter of weeks. He died in June 2015 in Basildon Hospital, after contracting Legionnaire's disease. Samples taken from taps in Mr Ibbetson's ensuite bathroom found there was a high concentration of the bacteria in the water. The Crown Court concluded that the likely cause of infection was the failure to flush and disinfect pipes following refurbishment work.
The Court of Appeal reduced the fine to £1.5m on the grounds that Bupa’s parent company profits were wrongly taken into account.
Mr Justice Julian Knowles, sitting with two other judges at the Court of Appeal, commented: "The defendant in this case was Bupa Care Homes and the offence in question arose out of its breaches of duty.
"It did not delegate these to its parent. It alone bore criminal liability."
The judge said nothing in the ruling was "intended to minimise the loss" that Mr Ibbetson's family have suffered.
