Fines and prosecutions York takeway owner prosecuted over fire safety


KHEN CHOOI Koay was taken to court by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS) over ‘poor fire safety conditions’ at his shop in York. In May 2017 fire safety inspectors


visited Mr Koay’s takeaway shop, Mr Happy Oriental Restaurant, at which they found that people were ‘living and sleeping on the first and second floors’, with no working fire alarm in the building and no ‘fire protected escape route’, while Mr Koay had ‘failed to carry out’ a fire risk assessment. NYFRS added that in a fire, residents


‘would not have received an early warning that a fire had started and they would not have had a fire protected route to make an escape’, so they ‘could very easily have become trapped’. It served Mr Koay with a prohibition notice that forbade him from allowing anyone to sleep in the building, as there was a ‘risk to life of death or serious injury in the event of fire’. Prosecution was ‘considered the appropriate action to take’, and at York Magistrates’ Court, Mr Koay pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, including breaching the prohibition notice. He was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,989 in costs with a surcharge of £170, for a total of £7,159, with magistrates stating that ‘these were very serious offences’.


SARAH GOLDSMITH was banned from managing properties in England and Wales for ten years, after an investigation found overcrowding and fire safety breaches. Welwyn Hatfield Times reported


she was charged with eight offences relating to a house in multiple occupation (HMO) after her property, The White House, was inspected by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council officers in October 2016. A complaint had been made by a tenant that it was ‘overcrowded’, and that the loft was ‘being used as a bedroom which was being accessed via a ladder’. Upon inspection, officers found six people staying in one room and another three ‘living in two rooms in the loft’, which had no smoke alarms, fire doors or ‘satisfactory’ means


Kevin Caulfield, watch manager of


NYFRS, commented: ‘NYFRS will always make a visit to a property when reports of poor fire safety standards are made to us. Depending on what is found, appropriate advice will be given to the business, informal action may be taken or in some cases, such as this, the necessary enforcement action will be implemented. ‘In this case following the inspection, Notices were served. An investigation was conducted because the fire safety problems were so serious. The responsible person had not given any real thought to what might happen to the people sleeping in the building if a fire had occurred.


Landlady banned after HMO court case of escape. Issues with utility bill payments and problems with the central heating meant that portable electrical heaters ‘were being used in overcrowded rooms which increased the risk of a fire’. Another individual was living in a


room ‘not much larger than a single bed’, so the door ‘could not open fully’, with Ms Goldsmith having previously told the council that ‘she intended to make this room a toilet room’. After the council inspection, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) served her with a prohibition notice that prevented ‘use of the loft rooms’ for sleeping ‘with immediate effect’. A further complaint was made in December 2016 from another tenant, and another inspection found that a large hole in a wall, made during


‘Conducting or commissioning


a fire risk assessment is the starting point for beginning to ensure that a building is or can be made safe for people in the event of a fire. NYFRS will in most cases give responsible persons chance to comply with the legislation before taking legal proceedings. However, where cases are found where there is risk to life of death or serious injury in the event of fire, prosecution will be considered and where appropriate taken.’ He added: ‘NYFRS find that


many businesses and sole traders are proactive in managing their fire safety well. Sadly there are still too many occasions, like this case, where businesses are unaware or ignoring what they should be doing. As a service we provide free fire safety advice to businesses and the public. We engage with various trade organisations and individual businesses to raise awareness of best practice around fire safety. ‘I would welcome ideas from


anyone and especially businesses and sole traders as to how we could best reach out and deliver our important fire safety messages. Improving the standards of fire safety and fire safety management will reduce the risk of fire and help to keep individuals and businesses safer.’


alteration works, was between one tenant’s room shared with two children, and a neighbouring tenant’s room. The hole was a ‘breach of fire safety regulations’, as the 30 minutes’ fire separation between the rooms ‘had been compromised’. In defence, Ms Goldsmith argued


she was ‘suffering from mental health issues and had significant financial debts’, so the council decided that it was ‘not in the public’s interest to proceed with the prosecution’. Instead, an out of court settlement was agreed, and Ms Goldsmith ‘is not to engage in the management of any rented property in England or Wales for a period of ten calendar years’. She had been prosecuted in July 2014 ‘under similar offences’, and was fined £32,723


www.frmjournal.com SEPTEMBER 2018 15


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