For me, the most obvious area for reform under the Order is in the area of identifying responsible persons. I have no doubt that it is this aspect of the Order, which causes the most confusion, not only to fire officers, but...
Read MoreDefending Fire Safety Cases. The common misconception about criminal defence lawyers is that we spend our time trying to ‘get people off’. In fact, our job is to evaluate the evidence and then try to obtain the best possible...
Read MoreThe most recent case of R v Takhar, a case where a 61 year old Defendant had pleaded guilty to multiple breaches of the FSO, had received concurrent sentences (served at the same time – ie 6 months in total) of 6 months...
Read MoreIn the case of R v Mirza (2012), the Court did find that a suspended custodial sentence, with an unpaid work requirement of 200 hours, was manifestly excessive, given the offender’s circumstances. The community service aspect of...
Read MoreThe case of R v O’Rourke (2011) involved an appeal against an 8 month prison sentence for failing to make a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment where Mr O’Rourke, who had no fire safety qualifications had carried out a...
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