Going back some weeks, I commented "rather her than me".
This is an unusual case before the Crown Court.
1. The only punishment (sentence) available was a fine.
2. The "defendant" was a highly respected company.
3. In the background was the Government Ministry with responsibility for the safety of Royal Air Force. For reasons I set out many moons ago, they could never have been a "defendant" by reason of Crown Immunity.
4. MB admitted guilt on the narrow basis that it knew that if the nut was overtightened it could cause the very event which happened. MB accepted that it should have given formal written advice to the MOD/RAF of that risk. The High Court Judge sentenced on that basis.
5. Because the MOD could not have been a defendant, the question as to whether it in fact knew or should have known of the risk, irrespective of whether MB informed them, was for the purposes of this case, irrelevant. Why? Because MB owed the deceased pilot a duty of care, and two wrongs do not make a right.
If MB had, as it originally intended, maintained its "not guilty" stance, no doubt it all would have come out in the wash. But for reasons we can only speculate about MB changed its plea to guilty. So, as often happens, there is a feeling that the outcome is not satisfactory. But there is nothing that the Judge could have done about that. She had to deal with the Guilty plea before her, not speculate on what may have come out in the wash, had there been a trial.