September 11, 2024
£125,000 fine for fire safety breaches across four premises
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Two care home directors have been fined nearly £125,000 for multiple fire safety offences, prompting a call for businesses to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, as amended by the Building Safety Act 2022.
Thuraisamy Ravichandran and Radha Ravichandran, directors of Care Pro (Southeast) Limited, were fined in July after pleading guilty to 12 fire safety offences at Brighton Magistrates Court in April. The charges stemmed from inspections carried out in October and November 2022 by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service at four care homes in Bexhill-on-Sea managed by the defendants.
The fire safety breaches included:
- A failure to implement general fire precautions.
- Inadequate firefighting and detection equipment.
- The absence of a “suitable and sufficient” fire risk assessment.
Inspectors found serious issues across all four premises, including defective or missing fire alarm systems, damaged fire doors lacking self-closures, and outdated or insufficient fire risk assessments that failed to address identified hazards.
District Judge Szagun, presiding over the case, deemed the directors’ culpability to be high, with the potential harm categorised as medium. The judge emphasised that the presence of vulnerable residents in facilities with defective fire safety measures significantly increased the level of harm. She noted that the owners should have familiarised themselves with relevant regulations and guidance when operating care homes.
The fines amounted to £27,500 per offence for four of the charges, with the remaining offences resulting in guilty verdicts but no additional penalties. In total, the directors were ordered to pay £110,000 in fines, along with a £2,000 victim surcharge and £12,455 in costs.
Area manager George O’Reilly, head of fire safety for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, said:
“I would like to thank the court for their time and deliberations in this matter as well as my legal team and staff for their efforts in bringing this case to a successful conclusion. ESFRS are legally required to enforce the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
“We take this responsibility seriously and we will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone responsible for placing people at risk of death or injury from fire due to their failures to meet the requirements of this legislation.”
Craig Williams, Group Protection Legislation and Enforcement Manager for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, highlighted the severity of the case:
“The fire service considers this one of the most serious cases we have ever prosecuted due to a number of offences found in various premises operated by the company. The fine handed down by the court today reflects the serious nature of the offences.
“Owners and those responsible for any premises where the fire service find fire safety contraventions are reminded of the potential consequences, including unlimited fines and potential custodial sentences.”
FIA
August 2024
