Fatal Omission Costs Pub Chain Dear

Enterprise Inns plc has been fined £300,000 plus costs after putting hundreds of lives at risk, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has told the Crown Court in Liverpool.  The pub chain failed to carry out gas safety checks which resulted in the tragic death of one employee and could have led to many more.

Faulty gas heater causes death

Paul Lee, 41, the landlord at the Aintree Hotel in Bootle was found dead in November 2007.  A faulty gas heater exposed Mr Lee to fatal levels of carbon monoxide within an hour of it being activated.  Liverpool Crown Court decided that the gas heater which caused Mr Lee’s death should have been checked before he took over the tenancy.

Enterprise Inns, which owns 7,700 pubs across the UK, has admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has since apologised to Mr Lee’s family and friends.  A spokesman said: “”Since 2007, working closely with the HSE, Enterprise has done everything possible to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.”"

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