Penhallow Hotel company pleads guilty to fire safety charges

The company that owned the Penhallow Hotel where three people died in a fire in August 2007 has admitted breaches of fire safety legislation.

O & C Holdsworth plc pleaded guilty to two offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment; and failing to ensure the hotel was properly equipped with detectors and alarms. The company pleaded not guilty to a third charge of failing to ensure the safety of relevant persons.  The case has been adjourned to 4 May when O & C Holdsworth plc is due be sentenced.

Last year, an inquest into the deaths of the three guests – Joan Harper, Monica Hughes and Peter Hughes, all from Staffordshire – returned an open verdict.