Landmark fire case put in front of a jury

The Fire & Rescue Service (FRS) has been pretty quiet recently – especially when compared to the Health & Safety Executive. A recent high profile case has changed this, however.

What happened?

Until the conclusion of this case, all previous convictions had been secured either in a Magistrates’ Court or by an individual judge. However, this time the defendant’s case was sent to Blackfriars Crown Court. The offences related to a fire which occurred in a hotel in Finchley, London, on 18th May 2008. Three people escaped from the fire, two by using the stairs and a third by climbing out of a second floor window.

Following the incident, inspectors visited the hotel and raised a number of serious concerns about how fire safety was being managed. The concerns included defective fire doors, blocked escape routes, no smoke alarms in some of the bedrooms and no suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment had been carried out. Just for good measure, staff working at the hotel had no received any training in how to deal with a fire on the premises.

When the hotel owner appeared before a Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges. In response, prosecutors committed the case to Crown Court, where a jury found him guilty on all counts. He was fined £180,000 and the hotel company £30,000.  The defendants were also ordered to pay prosecutions costs of £50,000. We believe that the FRS took this case to Crown Court to make a clear statement of intent and to secure the biggest penalties possible.

If you have “overlooked” many fire safety issues, pleading not guilty isn’t a wise move. If the owner had pleaded guilty, his fine and costs would have been much lower.

How do I protect my business?

First and foremost, you must have a fire safety risk assessment carried out. The inspector from the Fire & Rescue Service will ask to see this when they come knocking. If you do not have one, they may take action against you.

Common breaches picked up by inspectors are the basics, such as: fire doors and alarms, as well the maintenance and fire procedure issues.  Make sure you have them covered, or better yet, ask LRB Consulting to check them out for you.