Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service vs. John Nevins

17/06/2008

On Tuesday 17th June 2008 Mr J Nevins owner of the Brandon House Hotel appeared in Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing, following his guilty plea to breaches of fire safety legislation at an earlier hearing on the 20th May 2008.

At this hearing, Mr Nevins pleaded guilty to 4 offences under the Fire Precautions Act 1971, he also asked for 2 other offences to be taken into consideration for sentencing.

The offences he pleaded guilty to were;

1) Section 8 (2) (b) - Failure to inform the Fire and Rescue Service of Material Alterations to his hotel. This offence was discovered in January 2004 by Bury Fire Safety Officers when they found that Mr Nevins had divided a function room into two bedrooms one of which did not have suitable means of escape and in the event of a fire could have lead to guests being trapped.

2) Section 8 (2) (b) - Failure to inform the Fire and Rescue Service of Material Alterations to his hotel. This offence was discovered in May 2006 again by Bury Fire Safety Officers when they found that Mr Nevins had constructed a bedroom on the second floor of his hotel without providing the necessary construction or fire safety standards. This offence put all persons sleeping on the second floor at risk and had initially led to a Prohibition Noticed being issued.

3) Section 7 (4) - Failure to meet the requirements of the fire certificate in that emergency lighting and artificial lighting was not provided in all relevant places. This offence was discovered following an inspection in January 2004.

4) Section 7 (4) - Failure to meet the requirements of the fire certificate in that the Fire Alarm System not being tested correctly, identified in May 2006.

The offences that Mr Nevins asked to be taken into consideration were Section 7 (4) - Failure to provide suitable Fire Resisting Construction to the boiler room door. This offence was initially identified in May 2006, but was a repeated offence on the re-inspection which took place in August 2006. And finally the other charge taken into consideration was Section 7(4) - Fire Exit Door locked, the fire exit designated on the Fire Certificate from the kitchen was locked on the inspection during May 2006.

The court heard that despite advice and guidance from Suffolk Fire and Rescue inspecting officers, Nevins continually ignored his fire safety responsibilities, putting staff and customers at risk which fire safety officers believed would ultimately lead to fire deaths at the hotel. The offences cover all key fire safety regulations.

The fines that Mr Nevins was given were as follows;

  • Offence 1 - £10,000
  • Offence 2 - £75,000
  • Offence 3 - £10,000
  • Offence 4 - £50,000

Mr Nevins was ordered to pay Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service full costs of £49,488 and to pay and £8,039 for legal aid costs which he had claimed and was not entitled to.

The court recognised that Mr Nevins was, by his actions, reckless and described his failures as "woeful". The Judge also fully acknowledged that he had placed members of the public and his own staff, at "considerable risk". Mr Nevins had failed to respond to advice and guidance given to him by the Bury Officers and the court commented that he was aware of the potential harm of his actions.

This investigation had been a long and drawn out affair with Mr Nevins attempting to frustrate the legal system wherever possible. However it has lead to a successful conclusion and a very strong message to all, that Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service will enforce serious breaches of fire regulations to ensure the safety of persons in Suffolk and visitors to our County.