A landlord in Newport has been ordered to pay more than £13,000 after being found guilty of a string of fire safety offences.

Mr Lewis Marshall was found guilty of seven offences relating to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The case was brought by South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority who had sent information requests regarding two properties in his ownership.

In July 2015, fire safety officers conducted inspections at both premises. The inspections identified inadequate fire safety provisions at both.

Mr. Marshall was fined £1,000 in respect of each offence and ordered to pay full costs to the Fire Authority of £6,009.07. He was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £100.

Owen Jayne, group manager within the Business Fire Safety Department for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Our role is to enforce fire safety legislation in premises and ensure that these premises are safe.

“We do this by working with businesses and landlords across South Wales to support them to protect their business from risk. In this instance, we went out of our way to seek out basic information to enable us to follow legal protocols.

“The court viewed this matter to be so serious they imposed the maximum fine possible. As you can see in this case, the fines and costs received are solely attributed to the failure to provide information.”

Original source

South Wales Argus