In Southwark Crown Court, Mian Zafar was sentenced to 12 months in custody, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay a fine of £5000 and costs amounting to £10,000.

The newsagent manager from Tottenham received the suspended prison sentence for three counts of breaches to fire safety law following a fire in his shop which injured an upstairs resident and three firefighters.

The post-fire safety inspection found no working heat or smoke alarms in the building, no fire emergency escape plan and no fire risk assessment. All were serious breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The fire started in the newsagents in November 2013 and affected the flats upstairs. One firefighter suffered serious burns.

Lee Drawbridge, deputy assistant commissioner, said, “Fire safety is not something to be taken lightly. The fire safety breaches found at this premises meant the residents of the flats above were in obvious danger as there were no working smoke alarms throughout the building and the premises did not have a sufficient fire risk assessment.

“We want to work with building owners to help them meet their safety responsibilities, but where we find breaches, which place the public and our firefighters at serious risk, we will do all we can with other relevant agencies to ensure that responsible individuals are prosecuted.” 

Original Source
London Fire Brigade