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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/24/southwark-council-admits-safety-failings-tower-block-lakanal-house-blaze
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| Southwark council pleads guilty over worst ever tower block fire | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A London council has pleaded guilty to four counts of breaking fire safety regulations over a blaze in a 14-storey tower block that killed six people. | A London council has pleaded guilty to four counts of breaking fire safety regulations over a blaze in a 14-storey tower block that killed six people. |
| Southwark council admitted it failed to address fire risks at Lakanal House in Camberwell, south-east London, in the years leading up to the UK’s worst ever tower block fire on 3 July 2009. | |
| The fire, which an inquest previously found had started in a television in a ninth-floor flat, spread through the 1958-built block of 98 maisonettes with a ferocity that baffled firefighters and terrified residents. | The fire, which an inquest previously found had started in a television in a ninth-floor flat, spread through the 1958-built block of 98 maisonettes with a ferocity that baffled firefighters and terrified residents. |
| Those who died had been told to stay in their homes by 999 operators, who believed fire safety measures would be sufficient to prevent flames and smoke from reaching them. | Those who died had been told to stay in their homes by 999 operators, who believed fire safety measures would be sufficient to prevent flames and smoke from reaching them. |
| London fire brigade, which is responsible for enforcing fire safety laws, originally brought 22 charges against Southwark, but in a hearing at Southwark crown court, the council agreed instead to plead guilty to four charges on a revised indictment. | London fire brigade, which is responsible for enforcing fire safety laws, originally brought 22 charges against Southwark, but in a hearing at Southwark crown court, the council agreed instead to plead guilty to four charges on a revised indictment. |
| Outlining the case against Southwark, Stephen Walsh QC, representing the fire brigade, said: “It was a serious fire from about four o’clock in the afternoon on that warm day. It started in a piece of electrical equipment in a bedroom in a flat on the ninth floor. | Outlining the case against Southwark, Stephen Walsh QC, representing the fire brigade, said: “It was a serious fire from about four o’clock in the afternoon on that warm day. It started in a piece of electrical equipment in a bedroom in a flat on the ninth floor. |
| “Tragically, six people, including three children, died on the 10th and 11th floors. But it’s of great importance that I make the point that this prosecution is concerned with the risks that existed prior to the fire, because that’s what the fire safety order is concerned with.” | “Tragically, six people, including three children, died on the 10th and 11th floors. But it’s of great importance that I make the point that this prosecution is concerned with the risks that existed prior to the fire, because that’s what the fire safety order is concerned with.” |
| Outside court, the Labour MP Harriet Harman, whose constituency includes the estate where Lakanal House is situated, welcomed Southwark’s guilty pleas. | Outside court, the Labour MP Harriet Harman, whose constituency includes the estate where Lakanal House is situated, welcomed Southwark’s guilty pleas. |
| “This case was about a fire in which six people – three women and three young children – tragically lost [their] lives and our thoughts are always with them. Nothing can bring them back and the loss for their families and friends will endure,” she said. | “This case was about a fire in which six people – three women and three young children – tragically lost [their] lives and our thoughts are always with them. Nothing can bring them back and the loss for their families and friends will endure,” she said. |
| “They [Southwark] failed and pleaded guilty, and they’ll be sentenced next week. But the fire brigade too have responsibility, because the people who escaped with their lives were those who ignored the fire brigade’s instructions and ran out of their flats and down the stairs, and those who died were those who accepted the fire brigade’s instructions and stayed in their flats. And of course, that would have been the right advice had the fire safety measures not failed. | “They [Southwark] failed and pleaded guilty, and they’ll be sentenced next week. But the fire brigade too have responsibility, because the people who escaped with their lives were those who ignored the fire brigade’s instructions and ran out of their flats and down the stairs, and those who died were those who accepted the fire brigade’s instructions and stayed in their flats. And of course, that would have been the right advice had the fire safety measures not failed. |
| “What the fire brigade failed to do is to change their instructions and to recognise things were not happening as they were meant to happen. | “What the fire brigade failed to do is to change their instructions and to recognise things were not happening as they were meant to happen. |
| “The absolute tragedy of this is that these were avoidable deaths. They should never have happened.” | “The absolute tragedy of this is that these were avoidable deaths. They should never have happened.” |
| Dave Lewis of the Sceaux Gardens tenants and residents association, who lives in Marie Curie House, an identical block opposite Lakanal House, said: “It was a very tragic day back in 2009; three children, one 20 days old, lost their lives. | Dave Lewis of the Sceaux Gardens tenants and residents association, who lives in Marie Curie House, an identical block opposite Lakanal House, said: “It was a very tragic day back in 2009; three children, one 20 days old, lost their lives. |
| “I think it’s appropriate for the London fire brigade to bring this case against Southwark council. I think Southwark ... have put a lot of time, energy and money into improving fire safety in high-rise [blocks] and beyond there. | “I think it’s appropriate for the London fire brigade to bring this case against Southwark council. I think Southwark ... have put a lot of time, energy and money into improving fire safety in high-rise [blocks] and beyond there. |
| “However I think this case is needed because the message needs to go out to landlords, social or otherwise, that they have responsibilities that can’t be ignored.” | “However I think this case is needed because the message needs to go out to landlords, social or otherwise, that they have responsibilities that can’t be ignored.” |
| A Southwark spokeswoman said the council accepted responsibility for the fire and had spent £62m on fire risk assessment programmes since. | A Southwark spokeswoman said the council accepted responsibility for the fire and had spent £62m on fire risk assessment programmes since. |