Hertfordshire restaurant owner fined

The owner of a Hertfordshire restaurant and one of his employees have been fined more than £12,000 for breaching fire safety regulations.

Kamruz Zaman and staff member Adiel Choudhury of the Red Ginger restaurant in Bushey both pleaded guilty to several offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at Stevenage magistrates court on 1st December.

Fire investigators prosecuted the pair after a small fire was started in the premises by arsonists, requiring one employee sleeping upstairs to escape through a first-floor window. 

Subsequent assessments revealed that the fire alarm system was not working and the pair had failed to provide safe emergency routes and exits.

Mr Zaman was fined £5,750 and Mr Choudhury £6,000 for the offences, with the total fine amounting to £20,941 when coupled with costs of £9,161 and victim surcharges.

"Where breaches of fire legislation are considered so serious that there is a risk of death or serious injury to persons, we will consider prosecution," said Hertfordshire's chief fire officer, Roy Wilsher.

"In this case members of the public and employees were put at risk and one employee was extremely fortunate to escape with his life."