Repeat Offender Put the Lives of his Guests at Risk
The owner of a hotel in Derby has received a custodial sentence after repeatedly flouting fire safety regulations and ignoring the advice of local fire and rescue services.
The importance of following fire and safety regulations, along with the penalties for those who fail to do so, was brought into sharp focus at Derby Crown Court, following the conviction of Gurnham Singh Rai for multiple breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Rai, the owner of the International Hotel, on Derby’s Burton Road, had received numerous visits and warning relating to a wide variety of fire safety issues, including absent or inadequate fire safety signs, inoperative alarms and blocked fire exits.
Repeat visits
Fire safety inspectors from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service first visited the hotel on 20 January 2015 to perform a routine Fire Safety Audit and check compliance with the applicable regulations. They discovered that significant findings from the mandatory fire risk assessment had not been actioned.
A Rescue Service spokesman commented: “The general fire precautions were inadequate, structural maintenance was insufficient, the external fire escapes were corroded, fire doors were found to be wedged open, the fire alarm and emergency lighting had numerous defects, fire extinguishers had not been tested and staff training was incomplete.”
The findings resulted in issuance of an Enforcement Notice by Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service on 13 March 2015, giving the owner a deadline of 20 April to bring the property into compliance. Yet in spite of numerous additional visits and warnings, the work had still not been completed by August 2015, and at this point the Fire Authority commenced legal action.
Head in the sand
The court heard that Rao “had his head in the sand” for a period of more than two and a half years, and endangered the lives of staff and guests at the hotel. Ronald Jaffa, mitigating, said: “He had not quite grasped the situation about his culpability and always thought someone else was responsible for carrying out the work.”
In fact, this case goes to show that the responsibility for fire safety lies squarely on the shoulders of whoever owns the building. Alex Johnson is the Area Manager for Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service. He commented that any provider of sleeping accommodation has a legal responsibility to protect guests from the risk of fire. He went on to add that the Fire and Rescue Service will always try to work with, rather than against, such providers, but that where there is a wilful disregard for fire safety, they will not hesitate to protect lives through formal action.
In sentencing, Judge Edward Coke summed up as follows: “It is quite clear to me that there was an unwillingness to spend monies and no intention or willingness to comply for the safety of guests. I have a duty to make it clear how important these regulations are and, when flouted as they have been, there can be no other sentence than immediate imprisonment.”