IN COURT

摘要

Supermarket fine. An incident in which an 18-tonne delivery lorry hit a customer in a car park has led to a f 130,000 fine for a supermarket chain. Patricia Cox was walking across Jempson's car park in Peasmarsh, West Sussex, when the lorry, which was trying to reverse into the store's delivery yard, ran into her. She had to have her left leg amputated and suffered serious injuries to her right arm and leg. The retailer, which denied breaching s.3(1) of the HSW Act in that it exposed non-employees to risks from its undertaking, was found guilty by a jury. During the trial, logistics firms gave evidence that the supermarket's delivery yard was cluttered and that the access road was narrowed by cars parked on double yellow lines. The jury was also told that Jempson's, which has eight shops and cafes in West Sussex, knew about the risk of lorries reversing in the pedestrian area but was not controlling it adequately. Ian Hollidge of Rother District Council, which took the prosecution, said the lorry manoeuvre "was allowed to occur regularly". At Lewes Crown Court on 10 July, Jempson's was ordered to pay prosecution costs as well as the ￡130,000 fine, with the amount still to be decided.