Landlords Imprisoned for Fire Safety Breaches

Two landlords have been sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs for breaching the fire safety legislation.

The prosecution followed a fire on 31st March 2007 at a house converted into bedsits on Hampden Road, North London.

Previous to the sentencing at Wood Green Crown Court on 12th June 2009, Michael de Havilland and Sally Fox of Muswell Hill had pleaded guilty to several breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. These breaches included:

• Inadequate fire detection systems;
• A lack of proper fire doors for bedrooms or the communal kitchen;
• No emergency lighting in the building’s stairway;
• A lack of fire fighting equipment i.e. fire extinguisher / fire blankets;
• No fire risk assessment available for inspection.

A further inspection was arranged where an enforcement notice was issued, explaining that the breaches needed to be dealt with. But after further contact with the co-owners and further inspections over a number of months, inspecting officers found that no remedial work had been completed.

"This is our second prosecution resulting in a custodial sentence and again sends out a strong message to landlords and building owners," said Brian Coleman, chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. "Our role is to keep Londoners safe, and where we see that you are not taking your legal fire safety responsibilities seriously, we will take action."