Court hears of 'criminal negligence' as cockle pickers trial begins

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

A Chinese gangmaster ordered 30 illegal immigrants out into Morecambe Bay to pick cockles on a dark and stormy winter night when local fishermen were already heading back to shore, a court heard today.

Without proper equipment or a guide, at least 21 of the cockle pickers, all illegal immigrants from China, were then cut off by rising tides and drowned in the near-freezing waters off the Lancashire coast, the jury at Preston Crown Court was told.

As the trial opened of Lin Liang Ren, who faces 21 counts of manslaughter, and four other people including his girlfriend, Tim Holroyde QC, prosecuting counsel, said that the group of workers were the victims of the "criminal negligence" of their employer.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1787950,00.html

[Nihil]

1. Love the punctuation ...

> ... and four other people including his girlfriend, Tim Holroyde QC, ...

:evilgrin:

[non sociopath skin]

2. The punctuation is accurate. It's just badly written ...

.. with too many subordinate clauses, hence the ambiguity.

The Skin

[barbaraann]

3. Also: Cockle industry leader found dead.

Cockle industry leader found dead

Sep 17 2005
Aled Blake, Western Mail

A LEADING figure in the cockle industry has been found dead in his car.

Dyfed-Powys Police were last night investigating the death of Rory Parsons, 52, pictured, but said the circumstances were not suspicious. Mr Parsons, from Carmarthen, was head of Parsons Pickles, a shellfish processing company based at Burry Port.

A member of the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee, Mr Parsons had campaigned on cockle industry issues and had called for more stringent licensing of gatherers.
...
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=16141969&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=cockle-industry-leader-found-dead-name_page.html


Not suspicious? Just like David Kelly's death?