A local authority has admitted to a breach of health and safety law in relation to the deaths of four fire-fighters who were sent to tackle a warehouse fire.
Warwickshire County Council appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court today (20 January) to face a charge brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over the deaths of Ian Reid, John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Badley, who lost their lives in the blaze at Atherstone-on Stour, in November 2007.
The council admitted a failure to ensure the safety of employees under s2(1) of the HSWA 1974, but the plea has been entered on a limited basis.
In a statement, the council’s lawyer, Chris Green of Weightmans, said: “Warwickshire County Council has today entered a guilty plea to the charge it faces in connection with the Atherstone fire. That plea is entered on a limited basis and we should make it clear that we do not accept many of the allegations made by the prosecution.
“We believe it is very important that we say nothing that in any way prejudices the legal proceedings about these tragic events, so we will not be saying anything further except that our thoughts today are with the families and friends of all those affected by the Atherstone fire, just over four years ago.”
Three managers of the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service are also facing prosecution over their role in the deaths. Paul Simmons, Adrian Ashley and Timothy Woodward are accused of gross negligence manslaughter in sending the four fire-fighters into the warehouse, which was owned by Wealmoor (Atherstone) Ltd.
When they were first charged, almost a year ago, the CPS alleged that all three men acted as incident commanders “before, during and after their colleagues were sent into the burning building”.
According to the BBC, they have yet to enter any plea and their case has been adjourned to a date yet to be set.
Following the incident, the HSE served an Improvement Notice on the Warwickshire Fire Service, giving it four months to improve the way information on hazards in buildings and the location of water supply is provided at incidents.
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