Mansfield hotel manager pleads guilty to fire safety offences
A manager of two hotels in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has pleaded guilty to a number of fire safety offences at Nottingham Crown Court.
David Liu, the manager of both the Market Inn and the Dial Hotel, admitted 15 breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 after officers from Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service uncovered serious problems at his hotels.
During a routine inspection, fire safety officers found that the upper floors of both premises were being used as sleeping accommodation without the property fire safety precautions being taken to protect occupants. Risk assessments were prepared for both premises, but they both failed to spot a number of significant hazards and deficiencies in fire safety policy.
Mr Liu has now been handed a jail sentence of eight months for the breaches, along with the man who carried out the fire risk assessments on the hotels, John O’Rourke of Mansfield Fire Protection Services, was also given the same sentence. Whether through improper fire safety training on how to conduct risk assessments or through negligence, Mr O’Rourke failed in his duty to fully assess the safety of each property.