Oxford landlords fined for HMO safety breaches
Two landlords from Oxford have been found guilty of breaching licensing and safety regulations.
Mulazim Hussain and Momodu Chune were fined £6,730 and £665 respectively for the safety breaches.
Mr Hussain was the owner of a property used as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) but had failed to inform the local council of this. When an inspection was carried out, officers discovered that there were 10 occupants living in the property.
Many fire safety breaches were discovered at the property including faulty fire doors.
Mr Chune, was charged with similar offences after it was discovered he was leasing a property to seven occupants without the relevant HMO permissions. The smoke alarm in the property was not working and Mr Chune was unable to produce a gas appliance test certificate for the property.
Deputy leader Ed Turner told the Oxford Times: “The majority of landlords do a good professional job but we know in Oxford there is a minority who let their tenants down badly and sometimes put them in danger.”
Manchester off-license owner fined over £22,000 for breaching fire safety regulations
The owner of an off-licence in Greater Manchester has been fined over £22,000 for breaching fire safety regulations. The fine is the largest ever fine issued in the area for fire safety breaches.
The owner, Tahair Mahmood Arif was found guilty of 9 offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at Manchester Crown Court.
Inspectors visited the property in April 2011 and discovered that fire escape routes were locked with huge piles of rubbish, there were no fire alarms and a hall way was used to store a huge amount of combustible material. Windows had also been fitted with metal shutters.
Inspectors later discovered that despite the notice, Mr Arif was still using the property.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Peter O’Reilly, Director of Prevention and Protection said: “By ignoring fire safety, Mr Arif placed the lives of his workers and others staying on the premises at risk. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service works hard to educate businesses about their responsibilities, however, it is the responsibility of the business to comply with the law. Mr Arif chose to ignore our notices, and I am pleased that the court has recognised that this disregard for safety is a very serious matter. We will continue to prosecute cases where businesses put profit over safety and I hope this sends a clear message to others.”
Mr Arif was fined £22,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,195 and a £15 victim surcharge.
Tyneside restaurant owner fined over £6000 for fire safety breaches
Amed Ali, owner of the Light of India restaurant in Wallsend, Tyneside has pleaded guilty to 12 offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when he appeared at North Tyneside magistrates court in May.
Mr Ali was fined £250 for each offence and ordered to pay £3,500 in costs.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service launched legal proceedings against Mr Ali after officers inspected the restaurant in May 2011 and found that he had permitted people to sleep above the restaurant when it was unsafe to do so as there had been no fire risk assessment carried out and there were insufficient escape routes.
Darren Boddy from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It is the responsibility of all business owners to ensure the safety of anyone on their premises. A fire risk assessment must be undertaken to identify the risks to the people within the premises and the accommodation must have an appropriate standard of fire safety measures, systems and adequate escape routes. By failing to ensure these fire safety provisions are in place, some business owners are putting people’s lives at risk. We always strive to work with businesses to ensure the safety of their staff and members of the public, but where necessary we will not hesitate to take legal action against those who do not and continue to flout the law.”
Hotel boss pleads guilty to fire safety breaches
A hotel boss in Salford has admitted breaching fire safety regulations, putting the lives of guests in danger.
Sultan Chaudhry who runs The White Lodge Hotel, was found guilty of ten offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when he appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 4th April.
The breaches were discovered by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s fire safety officers when they visited the hotel after a fire broke out on April 13, 2011.
The fire broke out in the lobby of the hotel at around 4am. Firefighters were told by the manager that all 13 residents had evacuated the building. It was later discovered that actually, one guest still remained inside.
When fire safety officers attended later that day they issued Prohibition Notice preventing anyone staying in the hotel due to the complete lack of fire safety precautions.
Officers found that the fire alarms were faulty and had not been set up correctly, fire extinguishers were empty, escape routes were inadequate and there was inadequate emergency lighting.
A suitable fire risk assessment had not been carried out and staff at the hotel had not been trained in fire safety procedures.
Peter O’Reilly from GMFRS’ said: “Mr Chaudhry was running a hotel business and guests at the hotel are entitled to be safe. Fortunately, when the fire occurred nobody was injured, thanks to the professionalism of our crews who attended. “This could have been a very serious incident. It is unacceptable for a hotel business not to have proper procedures in place and put lives at risk. Members of the public using this hotel were placed in danger by Mr Chaudhry’s failings. Anyone running a business has a responsibility to comply with the law.”
Mansfield store fined over £32,000 for breaching fire safety regulations
A bargain store in Mansfield has had to pay a fine of over £32,000 after being found guilty of breaching fire safety regulations.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service inspected the newly opened B&M store in Stockwell Gate in June 2012 and discovered the breaches.
Representatives from the store appeared in Mansfield Magistrates Court and admitted breaching six fire safety offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
The company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and had obstructed fire exits leading out of the building. One exit route led to a locked enclosed area employees had not received adequate safety training.
In mitigation, barrister Austin Welch who represented the company said that B&M took health and safety and fire regulations very seriously. He said: “This is not a case where a company has operated for a great deal of time, the staff had been working there for three weeks and it had been open for a week, this is an extremely short period of time.”
Ian Taylor from Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We are here to provide advice and support to local businesses and are always willing to help to make sure they comply with the fire safety legislation. However, the public should continue to be reassured that we take any breaches of fire safety very seriously and will use legal sanctions where necessary. In this case, my officers had previously spent some time ensuring that B&M Retail Ltd was aware of its responsibilities and duties to ensure people’s safety, and it is disappointing that they chose to continue to place people at risk from fire.”