A property managing agent has been ordered to pay £40,000 following the death of a woman at a fire at a block of flats in London in 2012.

Sophie Rosser, 23, died following the fire which broke out at Meridian Place in August 2012.

Miss Rosser, who lived on the fifth floor of the building with her partner and flat mate, was found unconscious on the fourth floor of the building.

She was found by crews wearing breathing apparatus who carried her from the building but tragically later died in hospital.

Parc Properties Management Ltd (PPML), the managing agent for Meridian Place Management Ltd, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to two offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRO) 2005. 

Vance Miller, who completed a fire risk assessment for PPML at Meridian Place in 2008, also pleaded guilty to one offence under the RRO. 

Lee Drawbridge, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety, said: “Building owners have a responsibility to ensure regular fire risk assessments are undertaken which will help ensure that buildings have appropriate  fire protective measures in place.

“There were serious fire safety breaches in this block of flats which resulted in the fire quickly spreading to other parts of the building. 

“While London Fire Brigade want to work with building owners to help them meet their safety responsibilities, where we breaches of those responsibilities, we will do all we can to ensure the relevant agencies and individuals are prosecuted.” 

The Brigade’s fire safety team carried out an inspection of the building following the fire and found a number of serious fire safety failures, including:

• Failing to take general fire precautions to ensure the premises is safe

• Failing to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment
• Failure to monitor and review the preventive and protective measures
• The building was not properly equipped with firefighting equipment nor was it correctly maintained
• The fire detection system was not properly maintained 

Original source

London Fire Brigade