Warwickshire council to pay £30k over firefighter deaths

The bodies of John Averis, 27, Ashley Stephens, 20 and Darren Yates-Badley, 24, were recovered from the building in Atherstone-on-Stour in November 2007. A fourth firefighter, Ian Reid, 44, died later in hospital.

At the hearing at Stafford Crown Court today (Friday), the council, which runs the county’s fire service, was ordered to pay the fine.

The council had pleaded guilty to a health and safety charge in January.

Speaking after the sentencing, county councillor Richard Hobbs, who manages policy on community safety, said: “We pleaded guilty to the charge because we recognised and accepted that there were failings on our part back in 2007.

“No fire service can guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong again but we are confident that our service is as safe as it can be.”

He also paid tribute to the four men who lost their lives and said the council offered its “deepest condolences to their families and friends.”

In May, three fire service managers were cleared of manslaughter in relation to the blaze at the vegetable packing plant.

Up to 100 firefighters, from Warwickshire, Hereford and Worcester and the West Midlands, and five ambulance crews were sent to the blaze at the site on November 2 2007.