Barry fire safety expert's 'valueless' charity shop checks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38991921A fire safety consultant who gave "valueless" risk assessments has been given a six month suspended sentence and 180 hours of community service.
Brian Fakir, 59, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday on behalf of MB Fire Consultants in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan.
He pleaded guilty to 13 charges in relation to checks he carried out at four St David's shops in south Wales.
Fakir claimed the assessments were "drafts".
The St David's Hospice charity shop in Pontypool caught fire in August 2014, and at one point fire crews were pulled back because of the ferocity of the blaze.
A few months later another shop in nearby Newbridge was also damaged by fire and had to be demolished.
No prosecutions were brought in either case, but concerns were raised that two similar properties had been destroyed within months of each other.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service investigated, and found Fakir was paid as a consultant to produce risk assessments for many of the charity's shops across Wales.
It said none of the risk assessments he provided were suitable or sufficient in other premises such as Abergavenny, Cwmbran and Merthyr Tydfil.
He later pleaded guilty to 13 charges in relation to four premises with the most serious issues in Blackwood, Bargoed, Aberdare and Caldicot.
The court heard people were put at serious risk of death because of poor escape routes, a lack of fire alarms and insufficient precautions to reduce fire and the spread of fire.
At the Aberdare shop, there was insufficient emergency lighting, doors with inadequate fire prevention mechanisms and no mention of a neighbouring business which relied on a connecting door as its means of escape.
At the Blackwood shop, Fakir "entirely missed" the fact the building had a basement.
He claimed his assessments were drafts, but Judge Tom Crowther QC said there was no evidence of this.
"Your assessments failed to address the most obvious risks, and it seems to me they were valueless," he said.
"There can be little more frightening than a fire in a building.
"Those of us who work in the crown court have seen its consequences."
He ordered Mr Fakir to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in the community, and handed down a six month sentence, suspended for two years.
He added that the fact that someone could set themselves up to provide advice about fire prevention with no formal qualifications was "jaw-dropping".
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it hopes the conviction will help bring in new rules to regulate the industry.
