Fines for Fire Safety Breaches

7 July 2010

Fines for Fire Safety Breaches

Case: New Look Retailers Limited v The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority [2010] EW 1268 (Court of Appeal)

This case involved an appeal by New Look Retailers Limited (the appellant) against a fine of £400,000 imposed for two breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, following a fire in one of the appellant's stores.

The Appellant argued that as there were no deaths or serious injuries, and as none of the breaches actually caused the fire, then a lesser fine should have been imposed.

Background

On 27th April 2007, a fire took place at a New Look retail store on Oxford Street, central London, the result of which a significant part of Oxford Street was closed to traffic for approximately two days.

The flagship store and the neighbouring buildings were safely evacuated before fire fighters reached the scene. Many members of the public filmed the fire pouring out of the first floor of the store and uploaded the video clips to YouTube. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The Recorder of Westminster fined the appellant a hefty £400,000 for two breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, on 16 June 2010. New Look appealed this sentence. The Court of Appeal (CoA) dismissed the appeal and upheld the Judgment.

The Court of Appeal decision

The CoA did not accept the Appellant's argument that the level of fine was too great because it was equivalent to what would be expected had a death occurred as a result of the fire. The CoA held that the fact that no deaths or serious injuries resulted in this case was due to good luck. It held that all sentencing Courts need to consider the magnitude of risk to the public when passing their sentence.

The CoA held that the fine needs to be sufficiently high to act as a deterrent to the offender and to adequately reflect the public's concern.

The CoA also held that the sentence was consistent with the Corporate Manslaughter and Health and Safety Offences Causing Death guidelines set by the Sentencing Guidelines Council.

Conclusion

This judgement by the Court of Appeal suggests that the courts will now assess the seriousness of any breach of the fire safety rules by considering the risk created by the breach, rather than the actual harm caused. This sets the standard very high for occupiers of business premises and it is now possible that following the occurrence of even a relatively small incident could reveal breaches that result in a large penalty.

It is therefore very important that all occupiers of business premises should have a fire safety assessment carried out, and to fully comply with the guidelines set in them, to avoid any possible breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Inam Ali is a Solicitor at Lawdit, specialising in Commercial and Intellectual Property Law, and can be contacted via email: inam.ali@lawdit.co.uk