A Nottingham care home’s fire safety failures nearly led to tragedy, resulting in fines and a suspended sentence for a former director.
Ashwin Nepal, ex-director, admitted fire safety crimes. He broke the 2005 fire safety order. He ignored fire risk advice. The fire alarm was faulty, and escape routes were poor, too.
Nepal got a suspended sentence of nine months. He must do 150 hours of unpaid work, which he has one year to finish. This all happened on February 27th.
The company must pay a £120,000 fine. Nepal and the company pay £20,000 in costs. The judge spoke about St. Martin’s capacity, noting that it holds 21 residents who are old and vulnerable, making escape in a fire tough.
The judge said lives were put at extreme and unnecessary risk. He thanked the fire service for their work. The care home had a revamp in 2023, and closures nearly occurred then too.
The fire service said safety is key for residents, workers, and visitors, especially in care homes with vulnerable people. Breaches of this will be held to account.
Nepal and his company got a fair punishment for risking staff and residents’ lives. Fire safety is critical and a matter of life and death. The fire service also supports safe businesses and thanked the officers involved, noting the case needed dedication.