Council fined over failings at London tower block where six died in fire

A London council has been fined hundreds of thousands of pounds after admitting a series of failings at a tower block where three women and three children died in a 2009 blaze.

London Fire Brigade took Southwark Council to court on four charges in relation to safety breaches at Lakanal House in Camberwell where a fire started after an electrical fault with a television.

Designer Catherine Hickman, 31, who had been commissioned for work by the singer Bjork and whose work had been stocked in shops in New York, died in the blaze in July 2009 alongside Helen Udoaka, 34, and her three-week-old daughter Michelle.

Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her children, six-year-old Thais and Felipe, three, were also killed.

Following its guilty pleas last week, the council has now been fined £270,000 at Southwark Crown Court and ordered to pay £300,000 in costs.

The charges, dating from October 1 2006 to July 3 2009, included a failure to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, failure to take general fire precautions, including in relation to safety of employees, and a failure to ensure premises are subject to a suitable system of maintenance.

The prosecution said the case was related to risks at the building before the fire rather than being related to the cause of the blaze.

Deficiencies identified included the absence of strips or seals on doors in the building, suspended ceilings which lacked cavity barriers which could have reduced the risk of fire spreading and inadequate fire-resisting boxing-in (or fire protection) to the timber stairs where they cut across the common corridor.

On Friday, Richard Matthews QC, for the council, expressed “sincere regret for the failures that were present in the building”.

Following the sentencing on Tuesday, London Fire Brigade’s assistant commissioner for fire safety Dan Daly said he hoped lessons could be learned from the tragedy.

He said: “The fire at Lakanal House was a particularly harrowing incident and our thoughts remain with the families and loved ones of those who died.

“Bringing this prosecution against Southwark Council has been about ensuring lessons are learned so we can reduce the likelihood of such a devastating fire ever happening again.

“All landlords, including large housing providers, such as councils and housing associations, have a clear responsibility under the law to ensure that their premises meet all fire safety requirements and are effectively maintained to provide protection in the event of a fire and keep their residents safe.”

Councillor Peter John, from Southwark Council, said: “We fully accept the decision of the judge and the fine he has imposed. Some have talked about the need for this case to act as a warning to others, but for us the death of six residents is a stark reminder every day of the terrible cost of failings at Lakanal.

“Once again I can only apologise for the council’s role in this tragedy. We have since invested £62 million to make our homes safer and would urge all landlords to ensure their homes are safe so a tragedy like Lakanal is never repeated.”