£23,000 fine for Hertfordshire fire safety breach landlords
Two Landlords from Hertfordshire have been fined a total of £23,000 for breaching fire safety regulations.
Fiaz Mahmmud and Audrey Feegrado were found guilty of five breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The pair were found guilty of failing to provide an adequate means of escape or sufficient smoke alarms. They had also failed to ensure an adequate fire risk assessment had been carried out on the property.
Council chief executive Michel Saminaden said: “I’m very pleased with the result. It lays the foundation for a number of future projects that the council is working on to improve the quality of private sector housing within the borough. These severe fire safety breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006 could have resulted in fatalities.”
Information on current HMO regulations can be found here.
£13,000 fine for fire safety breaches
The owner of a property in London, has been ordered to serve 150 hours community service and to pay £13,000 in court costs after being found guilty of a string of offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Mr Saif Ahmed appeared at Tower Bridge magistrates’ court after fire safety officers inspected his property in Camberwell 2009.
Steve Turek, Assistant commissioner said: “It is essential that building owners understand their responsibilities under fire safety law. London Fire Brigade works hard to ensure individuals and companies understand their responsibilities under fire safety law and only uses prosecution as a last resort but this verdict sends out a clear message that if they ignore fire safety then they will face serious penalties.”
Mr Ahmed was found guilty of 7 safety breaches including insufficient fire alarms, emergency lighting and escape routes.
Firework factory blaze report launched
A report into a fireworks factory fire and explosion that killed two firefighters has made 66 recommendations in an attempt to prevent it happening again.
Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge both died in the fire at Marlie Farm in Sussex, in 2006.
Deputy chief fire officer Gary Walsh said: “Ultimately, by sharing the report’s findings, it is our objective to try to prevent a similar event ever re-occurring “As always, the thoughts of everyone at ESFRS are with the families of Geoff and Brian. ESFRS will continue to do all it can to offer ongoing support to the families, as it would for any of our firefighters affected by traumatic events such as those at Marlie Farm.”
Judge Mr Justice Cooke told the pair: “You wanted them to fight the fire when you knew that the risk of mass explosion meant that everyone should have evacuated the site and moved to a considerable distance away.”
The court heard that Martin Winter was “grossly negligent” as he was aware of the unlicensed storage of fireworks that could explode in the event of a fire breaking out.
In 2009, the factory operators were convicted and jailed for the manslaughter of the two firefighters. Martin Winter owner of Festival Fireworks UK Ltd, since renamed Alpha Fireworks Ltd, was jailed for seven years and his son Nathan was jailed for five years. An appeal against their convictions was unsuccessful.
Prison sentence and fines for hotel manager and fire risk assessor
The manager of two hotels in Mansfield has been found guilty of serious fire breaches.
David Liu who is the manager of The Dial Hotel and The Market Inn pleaded guilty to 15 fire safety offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
John O’Rourke, an independent fire risk assessor who was responsible for carrying out the fire risk assessments at the hotels also pleaded guilty to 2 offences.
Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service discovered the breaches whilst on a routine inspection. It was found that the hotels did not have smoke alarms in bedrooms, no adequate means of escape, no emergency lighting and insufficient firefighting equipment.
A prohibition order was issued to the owners stating that the hotel should not be used until the fire safety standards complied with current required standards.
Mr O’Rourke and Mr Liu were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 8th July. Mr O’Rourke was ordered to pay £5,860 and Mr Liu £15,000 in costs. Each will serve 8 months in prison.
Shell UK to pay huge fines after 2008 explosion
Shell UK has been ordered to pay 1.242 million pounds in fines and legal costs for a fire at its Bacton terminal in 2008. The company was found guilty of 7 offences.
The fire and explosion were caused by a leak of hydrocarbon liquid.
A spokesperson for Shell UK said: “What happened was completely unacceptable and falls well below the standards that we set for ourselves. Safety is our company’s priority and so an incident like this is deeply disappointing,”
The Environment Agency local Environment Manager, Marcus Sibley said: “The explosion could have led to a major environmental disaster as other highly flammable materials were stored nearby,”
There were no casualties in the incident as staff were returning from the plant to the main offices for shift handovers.
Since the explosion, Shell has invested around 3 million pounds into reviewing safety procedures.