Two landlords fined of £4,000 each for fire safety offences.
Two landlords were sentenced to a fine of £4,000 each and ordered to pay £8,000 costs at Taunton Crown Court.
Ralph Ricardo and Alistair Gordon of Sarum Homes Ltd, of Chard, pleaded guilty to a breach of a prohibition notice served on a property by Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority.
Following an audit of the property serious concerns regarding public safety were identified and a prohibition notice was served preventing occupation.
It was later found that the notice had been ignored and 13 people, including two children were living in the property.
The property was in the process of being renovated and the fire safety measures were inadequate. The fire alarm system and the emergency lighting system had not been commissioned and could not be relied on to operate in the event of a fire, the structural fire safety compartment had been breached, which would allow a fire to quickly spread throughout the building.
