In 2009 a fire broke out in a high rise council block of flats in the Camberwell area of London, which trasgically led to the death of six residents.
In court this week Southwark Council pleaded guilty to four breaches of fire regulations, which had been identified by the London Fire Brigade who prosecuted Southwak Council.
It was said in court that Fire Risk Assesments were not adequate, there were failures of fire resistance structures and their was a lack of compartmentation in false ceilings.
Problems were also identified with fire doorswhich lacked expanding sealant.
It had been expected by the emergency services that fire safety measures should have held the fire back, but because they were inadequate, this did not happpen.
These failures did not cause the fire, but had the fire suppression measures been adequate, it is more than possible this fire (however severe) would not have resulted in loss of life.
Because Southwak Council pleaded guilty, their fine was reduced from 400,000 pounds to 270,000 pounds with 300,000 pounds costs.
In the next few weeks, Firstport will be sentenced for their admitted failures in the Gibson Court fire which resulted in the death of Irene Cockerton.
What the sentence will be canot be pre-judged, but clearly Firstport felt it could be serious enough that they were forced to make a note in their acccounts as they felt the judgement could have material consequences for the company.
