SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS REDUCED TO 360 THOUSAND POUNDS FOR PLEADING GUILTY PLUS ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS COSTS.
That is the financial penalty levied on Peverel/Firstport for their (eventually admitted) serious breaches of Health & Safety legislation.
The penalty paid by Irene Cockerton and her family was of course much greater.
Peverel/Firstport did not cause the fire that took away the life of Irene Cockerton.
But their willful neglect and deriliction of their fundamental duties of care led directly to the death of Irene Cockerton.
And for what?
Because as they sank into deep financial problems they cut corners to save money!
Even overcharging residents, undertaking work that was not needed, price fixing, undeclared rebates from utilities and up to 40% insurance commissions was not enough for this venal company.
They could not be bothered to check and repair crucial loft fire safety curtains.
Those curtains are designed to hold back a fire for 30 minutes which would have given residents plenty of time to evacuate the building.
Given how vital the fire curtains are was it too much to ask of Barry Everitt, Keith Edgar and Nigel Bannister that they checked the integrity of the curtains had not been compromised?
And what of Andrew Davey who headed up and still leads the price fixing Cirrus (now known as Appello?)
An emergency call that came through to Cirrus was not passed on to the Fire Brigade, which would have instantly alerted them that the fire had spread to another part of the building.
Indeed so confident were the fire brigade and residents that the fire had been contained, they were even having tea in the lounge, rather than evacuating the building.
So Mr Everitt, Mr Edgar, Mr Bannister and Mr Davey, for the rest of your lives know this. You are responsible for the death of Irene Cockerton.
This website is dedicated to the memory of Irene Cockerton.
About Peverel commends the dignity of Irene's family at such a difficult time.
Nothing can bring her back, but About Peverel would urge any member of Firstport staff who has concerns about fire safety please tell us about it or report it to the local fire authority. this must NEVER happen again.
We finish this article with a poignant quote from Surry Fire Brigade(who Firstport sought to blame at the inquest)
THE FINE IMPOSED IN THIS CASE IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST THAT WE KNOW OF FOR A BREACH OF HEALTH & SAFETY REGULATIONS, AND WE HOPE IT SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE TO BUSINESSES TO TAKE SERIOUSLY THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE FROM FIRE.
