INDUSTRY NEWS


have been identifi ed and obviated as part of a routine risk assessment and they could have been rectifi ed without a good deal of expenditure.” Furthermore, he told Foster: “It is perfectly clear to me that despite all that happened in 2009 and despite being interviewed in 2010, you were unwilling to ensure the safety of residents. “This was in part, no doubt, because you were unwilling to bear


the relatively modest expense.” Even after the fatal blaze, Mr Foster continued to breach fi re regulations at his other properties, the court revealed.


London A retired director and former owner of a health spa in London was given a four-month suspended prison sentence on 30th April and ordered to pay £30,000 court costs after pleading guilty to seven offences under the Fire Safety Order. Ron Kemeny and Winsmill Limited, owned the Common Sense


Natural Health Centre on Clapham Common South Side at the time of a huge fi re in July 2010 in which 12 people were rescued by fi re crews, with others hanging off a window ledge and two people escaping onto the roof of the premises. At the time, four fi re engines attended the scene and six people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. An electrical fault in a tanning booth was later found to be at fault for the confl agration. However, investigations from local fi re crews in the aftermath


NAMED AND


SHAMED


North Yorkshire In May this year, landlord Alan Foster was handed a 12-month prison sentence after being found guilty of a series of fi re safety breaches that led to the death of two jockeys. Jan Wilson and Jamie Kyne were the victims of an arson attack in September 2009 after they became trapped in a second-fl oor fl at in Malton, North Yorkshire. Mr Foster was accused of lacking basic housekeeping skills at


the premises. Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said that it is impossible to predict whether either would have survived had this not been the case, but that it would be more likely. After admitting four charges of fi re safety breaches, Mr Foster


was given a year-long prison term on Friday 17th May. The property was found to have a lack of fi re safety signs and equipment. This, the judge believes, was critical in stopping the two jockeys having the best chance of surviving. He explained: “These were simple matters which should easily


revealed that there had been a failure to equip the building with suitable fi re detectors, no fi re doors and no self-closing doors leading onto escape routes. Furthermore, neither defendant could provide a suitable and


suffi cient fi re risk assessment. London Fire Brigade’s assistant commissioner for fi re safety, Steve Turek, said “The sentence handed down today sends out a clear message that we will not hesitate to prosecute if we believe that building owners are ignoring their responsibilities under fi re safety laws. It also shows that they will face serious penalties if they put lives at risk.”


Lancashire David Moseley and his fi rm DM Care were given a £35,000 fi ne after local fi re services found several breaches of regulations following a fi re last year. The Ambassador Care Home in Lytham Road, South Shore,


was found to have a Santa’s Grotto blocking an exit route by emergency services when the blaze started in January 2012. Furthermore, no approved fi re protection systems and alarms


were in place, therefore leaving residents’ lives at risk. While nobody was hurt in last year’s confl agration, 40 people in the care home had to be led to safety by fi refi ghters during the incident. Paul Ratcliffe, protection support manager for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The sentencing of DM Care is the culmination of a fi re safety inspection in the aftermath of a fi re which disclosed signifi cant breaches of fi re safety regulations that the prosecuting magistrate said could so easily have resulted in the loss of life.


“The substantial total of fi nes with costs of £40,375 is the highest amount we have seen imposed in cases such as this in Lancashire.”


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