Trial date set for pair facing fire risk charges

TWO men have been told a trial date has been set for them over charges relating to a large apartment block in Devonport which was subject to an ‘emergency order’ in 2021.

- CARL EVE

The Latitude 52 block, on Albert Road, was the focus of attention by Plymouth City Council and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in May 2021, after an assessment of the property was carried out.

At the time, as a precaution, a number of residents were temporarily moved out of the building, after the council issued an emergency prohibition notice.

The city council later confirmed that it was working with the fire service as further inquiries were carried out.

On October 9 this year, 49-yearold Charles Morgan, of Church Road, Parkstone, Dorset, appeared at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court, where he faced a single charge.

The court was told that on or about June 1, 2016, at Latitude 52, Morgan allegedly failed to comply with a requirement or prohibition imposed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005, where that failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.

The charge states that Morgan was a person in control of the premises insofar as his obligations existed by virtue of a contract for the provision of a Fire Safety Risk Assessment and that he allegedly failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons were exposed for the purposes of identifying the general fire precautions needed to be taken to comply with the provisions imposed by the aforementioned order.