Christopher Morris, 56, of Llandudno, a former retained fire fighter, appeared at Manchester Crown Court yesterday and was fined £5000 and ordered to pay £6000 in costs.
Last week at Trafford Magistrates Court, Mr Morris pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to maintain a fire detection and alarm system at a care home in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and failing to inform the owners of the deficiencies in the system.
Magistrates heard that enforcement officers commissioned a specialist examination of the fire alarm panel after a fire at the care home in May 2009. Among the deficiencies found were:
- A blown fuse overridden with a piece of wire
- An electronic component suspended between two terminal bocks instead of being attached to the circuit board
- An alarm silence/fault warning buzzer missing from the circuit board
- The fault warning light on the front face of the panel had been almost covered by paint
According to the prosecution, Christopher Morris, an electrician who had taken over the maintenance of the system in 2006, had issued several annual certificates of worthiness to the care home owner.
Deputy county fire officer, Jim Owen, said:
"Whilst many owners have been prosecuted under the Fire Safety Order, this may be the first time a fire and rescue authority has prosecuted someone contracted by the owner of a property to maintain a fire alarm. Taking on such a contract extends the requirements of the Order to the fire alarm maintainer. Anyone we find who doesn't carry out their work to recognised standards is a danger, and we will not hesitate to take action."
Detect Fire & Security are a recognised approved maintainer for Fire Alarm Systems. Do not risk being on the wrong side of the law for a saving of a few pounds!
Whilst I was not here myself when your engineer has attended to our system, I can say that several members of staff here took time out to pass comment to me about his committed attitude and how he dea...
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