Profile
Mark Scoggins is a Solicitor-Advocate with full Higher Rights of Audience in all courts in all proceedings. A graduate of Cambridge University, he has been based in the City of London since his call to the Bar in 1983. His principal practice is the defence of organizations and individuals in the construction, chemical, transport, waste and water sectors in regulatory and civil cases, particularly health and safety and environmental and catastophic personal injury or death. Mark appeared for the British Shooting Sports Council in the public inquiry arising out of the Dunblane school shootings. His notable cases include defence of Balfour Beatty in the Health & Safety Executive prosecution over the Heathrow Express tunnel collapse of 1994, and representation of Thames Trains at the public inquiry into the October 1999 collision near Ladbroke Grove; among his other health and safety, regulatory and environmental work are cases arising from construction, pipelines, waste reclamation, fish farming, flooding, pollution, drinking water contamination, asbestos removal, electrocution, confined spaces and EU public procurement. In a five-week trial ending in June 2003 Mark led the successful Old Bailey defence of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens and his predecessor Lord Condon on all ten charges brought against them by the HSE arising out of roof falls suffered by patrolling police officers. Appointed by Balfour Beatty on the October 2000 derailment at Hatfield, in July 2005 and after a 6-month trial helped win the acquittal of its railway arm on all corporate manslaughter charges it faced arising out of that incident, and in 2006 succeed on its appeal against sentence for admitted health and safety failings. Mark represents the Metropolitan Police and its current Commissioner in the health and safety prosecution now pending against the service over the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell station in July 2005. Mark holds degrees from Cambridge University and Inns of Court School of Law.