A series of fire safety breaches have landed care home bosses with fines and court costs totalling almost £125,000.
Thuraisamy Ravichandran, 66, and Radha Ravichandran, 59, were fined yesterday (Tuesday 9 July) after fire safety inspections at four of the premises run by their business, Care Pro South East Limited.
A senior fire officer said: “The fire service considers this one of the most serious cases we have ever prosecuted due to a number of offences found in various premises operated by the company.
“The fine handed down by the court today reflects the serious nature of the offences.”
The Ravichandrans, of Beckenham Road, West Wickham, Kent, pleaded guilty to 12 offences at Brighton Magistrates’ Court in April and were sentenced at the same court yesterday.
They were prosecuted after four of their premises in Bexhill were inspected over four days at the end of last October and the start of November. Three of the premises were in Egerton Road and the other in Jameson Road.
The inspections found that the owners had failed to take general fire precautions, failed to assess risks in line with their legal obligations and failed to have appropriate fire detection and fire-fighting equipment on the premises.
District Judge Tessa Szagun said that the couple had a high level of culpability but there was only a medium level of harm in legal terms.
But she said that the number of vulnerable residents placed at risk due to defective fire doors and a lack of alarms and fire detection systems raised the level of harm a higher level.
And she added that the owners should have taken the time to understand the published regulations and guidance when providing this type of service.
They were fined £27,500 for each of four offences, with no separate penalty for the other offences, making £110,000.
They were ordered to pay £12,455 prosecution costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge, making £124,455 in total.
Area manager George O’Reilly, the head of fire safety for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, said: “ESFRS is legally required to enforce the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
“We take this responsibility seriously and we will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone responsible for placing people at risk of death or injury from fire due to their failures to meet the requirements of this legislation.”
Group protection legislation and enforcement manager Craig Williams said: “The fire service considers this one of the most serious cases we have ever prosecuted due to a number of offences found in various premises operated by the company.
“The fine handed down by the court today reflects the serious nature of the offences.
“Owners and those responsible for any premises where the fire service find fire safety contraventions are reminded of the potential consequences, including unlimited fines and potential custodial sentences.”
