Fines and prosecutions Builder found guilty over fatal barn fire


NEWS


DAVID LUMLEY was prosecuted following the death of Boguslaw Szylak, who was living in Mr Lumley’s converted barn when it caught fire in July 2017. Gazette Herald reported on the


prosecution of Mr Lumley over Mr Szylak's death on 16 July 2017 in the converted barn at Mr Lumley’s home in Marton, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire. Mr Szylak was working for Mr Lumley’s firm, DJ Lumley, and was staying in the barn when a fire broke out. North Yorkshire Fire Authority


(NYFA) brought the case against Mr Lumley, with coroner Richard Watson having presided over an inquest at which it was revealed that Mr Lumley had been served


with a council enforcement notice in 2009 ‘forbidding anyone to live in the barn’ because it ‘did not have planning permission to be a dwelling’ and ‘did not meet fire safety standards’. Mr Watson had stated that ‘if


there had been compliance with the planning enforcement notice, then Mr Szylak would not have died’, adding that the breaches of building regulations ‘were more relevant’ here. This was because the work done to convert the barn into living accommodation had been done ‘without regard to fire safety’, and ‘if the proper measures for escape had been available in the building, Mr Szylak would have survived. There was a lack


of proper escape route. It seems clear the fire spread very rapidly’. In turn, the window in the bedroom where Mr Szylak had died was ‘too small to act as an escape route’. At York Crown Court, Mr Lumley pleaded guilty to two charges of putting people’s lives at risk ‘by not taking general fire precautions at the building and not carrying out a fire safety risk assessment’, though he denied two other charges of breaching fire safety regulations ‘also relating to the risk of death or serious injury’. NYFA accepted his pleas and his case was adjourned until 27 September, with Mr Lumley on bail and in turn warned that he could be jailed when sentenced


Fine for HMO landlord over fire breaches


DAVID SIMONS was fined more than £13,000 after he breached fire safety regulations at his house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Newington Green, North London, as well as ‘failing to carry out necessary repairs’. Landlord Today and Islington


Gazette reported on the prosecution of Mr Simons relating to his HMO in Newington Green. An environmental health officer from Islington Borough Council had attended and inspected the HMO after a neighbour made some complaints. During the officer's visit, he found


four unrelated inhabitants sharing a kitchen and bathroom, which


confirmed that the property was indeed an HMO. In addition, it had no mains


wired smoke alarm system, no fire door to the kitchen (both elements being required by HMO licensing) and there was a poorly repaired kitchen window, leading the officer to issue an improvement notice. This instructed Mr Simons


to fix the issues and provide an electrical installation condition report, but ‘despite committing to carrying the works out’, Mr Simons had ‘failed to get the jobs done’ on two separate occasions when the officer returned.


At Highbury Corner


Magistrates’ Court in June, Mr Simons was found guilty of failing to comply with an improvement notice, and received a fine of £12,400 plus costs of £600 and a victim surcharge of £175. Diarmaid Ward, housing


chief of Islington, commented: ‘Everyone has the right to a safe, genuinely affordable home and we will not tolerate dodgy operators taking advantage of people’s desperate need for a home. Where we find unacceptable conditions we will act to protect tenants.’


www.frmjournal.com OCTOBER 2019 17


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