The hospice in St Leonards suffered the fire on 11 July 2015, with the fire started by terminally ill patient Rodney Smith, who was charged with arson but died in jail before his trial, while three other residents – Pearl Spencer, Jill Moon and David Denness – died in hospital after suffering smoke inhalation. Another 23 patients and nine members of staff were forced to evacuate, and the case was brought against the hospice by East Sussex Fire Authority.
At Hove Crown Court in March 2018, the hospice pleaded not guilty to 11 other indictments, with this accepted by the court, before it was reported later that month that the hospice was fined £250,000 for ‘woefully inadequate’ safety measures, with staff ‘ill-trained to deal with such an event’ and the main fire exit locked.
Before the sentencing, prosecutor Sailesh Mehta said that it was clear that staff had ‘no appropriate training for the evacuation of residents’, and that there were ‘holes in the ceilings’ that allowed smoke to spread, while locked exit doors ‘could not be readily opened’. The main fire exit was locked, with ‘no proper evacuation training for staff’, and nurses were ‘in a state of panic’, trying to stop the fire with towels.
He added that ‘some patients had to be put on a small filing cabinet to wheel them along as there were not enough wheelchairs available’, while the hospice defended itself by stating it was unaware of defects ‘ruthlessly exposed’ by the fire, and accepted ‘blameworthiness for failing to make the premises as safe as it should have been’.
Judge Christine Henson ‘slammed’ the hospice's safety measures, and alongside the fine ordered it to pay £165,000 in costs, with hospice managers admitting two fire safety breaches. It also revealed it would pay the fine from reserves and costs ‘from elsewhere’, with the final amount reduced by 30% due to the hospice’s charitable status.
In a statement, chair Irene Dibben and chief executive Karen Clarke commented: ‘We remain truly sorry for the pain and anguish caused by the fire. We also share the pain of our own staff and volunteers, many of whom are still coming to terms with the full devastation of the fire. We need to decide as an organisation the best way to settle the fine. In light of this, there will be no further comment at this stage.’
Rye and Battle Observer has now reported that the inquest into the deaths of Mrs Moon, Mr Denness and Mrs Spencer will be reopened, having been ‘initially suspended’ pending the outcome of the March 2018 trial. It also noted that the hospice had been charged with breaching Articles 8(1)(a) and (1)(b) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, for an ‘overall failure to take general fire precautions to ensure the safety of its employees and non-employees’. It had also pleaded not guilty to 11 other breaches.