HMO owner fined £7000 for serious nature of offences under the RRO

This prosecution was in relation to premises in Accrington, Lancashire and came about as a result of a complaint received from the Police.

The premises concerned were found to be in use as an HMO, consisting of a basement, ground and two upper floors, and were used to house four vulnerable residents. A further four residents had moved out on the day previous to the Fire Service audit.

The owner was fined £676 per offence totalling £4732, plus full costs of £2487.50 which equalled a total of £7219.50. The Magistrate informed the owner that they had seriously considered referring the case to Crown Court due to the serious nature of the offences and the premises being a “death trap” and that the owner had been reckless and negligent in his duty and had failed to consider the residents vulnerability as well as anyone else who had cause to be at the premises

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Details of the offences were as follows:
• Article 9(1) Failure to make a suitable & sufficient fire risk assessment
• Article 17(1)(a) Failure to maintain the fire alarm in an efficient state and in working order
• Ar ticle 14(2)(h) Failure to provide adequate emergency lighting
• Article 17(1) Failure to provide appropriate fire fighting equipment
• Article 14(1) Storage of combustibles within escape routes
• Article 14(2)(b) Failure to ensure exit routes were available for use in an emergency
• Article 14(1) Failure to keep exit routes clear