Blackpool hotelier's deadly fire flouts lead to suspended jail term

A seafront hotel boss who put customers and staff in serious danger by flouting fire safety rules and a formal notice to close the hotel has been given a suspended jail term.
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Alan Diamond, leaseholder of the 36-roomed Cornhill Hotel, on the Prom, repeatedly allowed guests to stay in the death trap Victorian property, where the fire alarm was turned off, fire doors were missing vital equipment, and escape routes were littered with fabric chairs and fish tanks.

Judge Simon Medland QC told him the fire service had tried to help him and tried to point him in the right direction, but it remained unsafe despite every assistance the fire service gave him.

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Suspending his nine month jail term for 18 months, he said: "It's apparent in many ways those premises were deeply unsafe, you only have to step back and think for one moment what the consequences could have been if there was a fire.

Cornhill HotelCornhill Hotel
Cornhill Hotel

"A picture emerges of you being culpably negligent and indeed reckless."

Diamond, 46, pleaded guilty to seven charges, with five others to lie on the file, including several flouts of a prohibition notice served in August to close the hotel until fire improvements had been made.

Officers had found material wasn't being routinely cleared from escape routes, such as fabric chairs and fishtanks, and a fire alarm system was not functioning correctly or turned on.

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Self close devices, strips and seals were missing from the doors, preventing them holding back smoke or fire.

There was no evidence of training for staff working in the premises - and the caretaker tried to eject fire officers.

Management had continued to take bookings despite being ordered by the fire brigade to close.

Police had received 34 calls to attend incidents at the hotel after the prohibition was served.

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Prosecuting, Joe Hart said the offences ranged from straight forward offences to "complete ignorance of fire safety issues."

He said: " Clearly the potential risk in a residential hotel is higher than an office block where people are not sleeping.

"The difficulties start in June 2018 when a visit was made after concerns were raised by the council to Lancashire Fire and Rescue (LFRS).

"On that date a fire safety officer Steve Sims and Peter Derbyshire highlighted a number of issues in relation to fire safety provision and a decision was made along with Mr Diamond to voluntarily close the hotel until remedial fire work was done and that was signed by Mr Diamond.

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"On July 5 the protection team leader was contacted to attend the hotel because there were reports of people still staying on the premises after the voluntary closure. A visit was made by LFRS to assess if the hotel was still operating.

"On August 6 an inspection was carried out and a number of people, were found to be staying the weekend for the Rebellion Punk Festival

"A prohibition notice was issued."

For the next six months guests were found to be staying at the hotel.

Urging his sentence to be suspended, Rosalind Emsley-Smith

She described he had been living there with partner and was the victim of controlling abusive behaviour and domestic violence - the reason for many of the police calls.

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She added: "He is now free from that relationship, but the combined effect of that and the commitments he undertook caused him, he accepts, to not deal with this aspect of the running of the hotel.

"He was overwhelmed by the size of the project.

" This was a man who fairly simply bit off more than he could chew."