Acquittal of all defendants after expert evidence succesfully challenged has “potential implications” for the fire and rescue sector
The collapse of the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) prosecution of four companies in relation to the 2019 fire which gutted the Beechmere retirement complex in Crewe was due to questions over the “independence, impartiality, and competence” of the fire officers’ expert evidence.
In a statement, Crown Office Chambers, representing two of the defendants, said that, after arguing this evidence was inadmissible, “the prosecution conceded that they [the defendants] were right and offered no evidence on all counts on the indictment.”
The statements went on to explain that the judge in the case at Chester Crown Court, His Honour Judge Leeming “stated that he would have ruled in the defendants’ favour in any event.”
This position was confirmed by Temple Garden Chambers who also represented two defendants, and whose own statement said their argument had been that, “the prosecution had failed to comply with the Criminal Procedure Rules applicable to expert evidence”.
Responding to the circumstances of the decision to withdraw the prosecution, Alex Waller, chief fire officer at CFRS said “To our knowledge, the defence teams’ argument about our expert witnesses has not been raised previously in other fire safety cases. This case has potential implications and learning which we will be considering and sharing with the rest of the fire and rescue sector.
“The Beechmere fire had a profound impact on the community and was life-changing for many, so it was right that we did everything possible to hold those with responsibilities to account.”
However, CFRS has been criticised by some for the length of time the prosecutions took to be brought and the speed with which the case collapsed, and the costs incurred.
One legal professional involved in the case, spoke anonymously to Inside Housing, saying: “If the trial had run, verdicts would have been delivered almost six years after the fire, and four years after our client was informed it was under investigation.
“For those affected by the fire and their families, that’s an unbearable delay. For our client, a growing family business with a stellar reputation at stake, it brought enormous strain. A strain that the acquittal, welcome as it was, will do little to alleviate.
“All the more so when there will be no recovery of costs incurred or time spent reading papers and speaking with lawyers in preparation for a trial that never came.”
The CFRS statement confirmed that: “as of May 8, 2025, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has spent a total of £151,778 on bringing the prosecutions following the fire at Beechmere.”
It went on to say that the “service has a statutory duty to enforce the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and holds a specific budget reserve to fund prosecutions such as this.”