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Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
October 25, 2016

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Living in a Grade II-listed building in Kensington: not necessarily as prestigious as it sounds – fire-safety news round-up

A landlord has been fined £165,000 after a council inspection of a grade II-listed building in Kensington, London found overcrowded, unsafe conditions with no fire doors or smoke detectors.

The misleadingly prestigious-sounding address of 36 Hyde Park Gate had been subdivided into several flats, with some rooms lacking electric light fittings in the ceiling. Instead, extension leads and wires were trailed through the property.

The gas boiler had not been serviced and had a cracked flue, Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court court also heard.

So bad were conditions that environmental health officers issued a Prohibition Order to prevent further use of the flat.

Officers found 18 people living in the flat, which had been partitioned into small units with flimsy plasterboard, comprising 14 rooms in total. Tenants paid an average rent of £800 per month.

Abbas Rasul and two companies for which he was director were fined a total of £162,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,498.

The 64-year-old was found guilty of failing to license a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and 22 additional charges under HMO management regulations.

During sentencing the magistrates said: “We have paid particular attention in our sentencing to the matters we deemed with overriding concern of potential immediate dangers, those being the fire safety hazards. In coming to our decision we took into consideration there had been a lack of compliance over a considerable amount of time and an attempt to obstruct officers in their investigations.

“There is evidence of substantial disregard of their obligation to protect the tenants while they are living at the property.”

Six families, one house, zero fire alarms

A landlord who crammed six families into a semi-detached house without a single smoke alarm fitted has been fined nearly £7,500.

Willesden Magistrates’ Court heard that Mohammed Mehdi Ali didn’t even have a licence for the property in Brent, north-west London, which was built as a four-bedroom home.

The landlord had failed to institute even basic fire safety measures, despite earning at least £2,300 a month in rent from the property

Council enforcement officers found 16 people living in the property, including at least six children, during a raid.

The tenants were sharing just one bathroom and two toilets between them.

The landlord had failed to institute even basic fire safety measures, despite earning at least £2,300 a month in rent from the property. Neither smoke alarms nor fire doors were installed in the house.

Ali, who did not attend court, was convicted of offences under the Housing Act 2004 and fined £6,000. He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,318 and a victim surcharge of £170.

Councillor Harbi Farah, Brent Council’s Lead Member for Housing, said: “Given the serious overcrowding and poor fire safety in this house, we could easily be reflecting on a much more serious crime here The contempt Mr Ali has shown for this legal process by not even bothering to turn up for sentencing speaks volumes.

“The vast majority of landlords and lettings agents in Brent are honest and law abiding, but we take a zero tolerance approach to the minority who think they can treat their tenants like this.

“Failure to licence your property could result in an unlimited fine and a criminal record.”

Letting agency landed with £100,000 fine for catalogue of fire safety breaches

A Manchester lettings agency has been landed with a £100,000 fine for a catalogue of fire-safety breaches across five properties.

Beckhall Properties has been ordered to pay the hefty bill after flouting safety laws at five flats in the Whalley Range area of south Manchester.

Council inspectors discovered the following breaches of fire safety legislation under HMO:

  • Inadequate fire alarms and fire doors
  • unmaintained fire extinguishers
  • disconnected smoke and heat detectors

Read more on this story on the Manchester Evening News

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Fire alarm panel found in the flats (photo: Manchester Evening News)

 

Recycling fire on Liverpool docks rages for fourth consecutive day

A blaze on the Merseyside docks had still not been extinguished yesterday as it entered its fourth day.

Firefighters from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were first called out to the metal recycling centre at Seaforth docks on Friday night.

However, the FRS reported yesterday that the blaze was finally under control and the amount of smoke had been reduced.

Diggers and cranes are being used to break up the scrap pile so crews can get aerial appliances above the fire.

A spokesperson for Merseyside FRS said he had “never seen” a fire “that big”

The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

£50,000 fine for multiple fire safety failures in Thai restaurant

A businessman has been fined £50,000 for fire-safety breaches at a Thai restaurant during his time as director.

Azad Hussain, who is no longer  company director of Kam Thai Restaurant in Whitby, Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to six contraventions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Conducting a fire-safety inspection in August last year North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service found several serious fire safety breaches in the accommodation provided by the restaurant for employees:

  • A failure to carry out a written fire risk assessment
  • A failure to have a working fire alarm and detection system in place
  • Storage of combustible items within in the means of escape
  • Inadequate fire separation
  • Lack of fire training of employees
  • And a failure to comply with an Enforcement Notice

Appearing at York Crown Court Hussain was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £6,800 in costs. The Company Kam Thai (Whitby) Ltd was also fined £6,000 and Hussain will have to pay the fine within 14 days or receive an 18 months prison sentence.

During sentencing Judge Jamieson QC said: “Had a fire broken out on either the ground or first floor it is highly likely that there would have been a high risk to life potentially endangering the lives of others. These were extremely serious multiple offences, which continued over a significant period of time, aggravated by a failure to heed warnings given by Fire Officers.”

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Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.

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