Baddesley Stores Limited fined £5,000 plus £4,987 investigation and legal costs and Victim Surcharge for Health & Safety Offences.
Following a prosecution brought by North Warwickshire Borough Council, Baddesley Stores Limited pleaded guilty to two Health & Safety offences that resulted in an elderly lady in her 80s tripping over some boxes of stock that had been stacked and left on the floor. She suffered serious injuries including a broken humerus, bruising and a cut above her eye. The incident occurred on 1 June 2021 and the lady was hospitalised for a week and needed carers upon being discharged from hospital back to her home.
The Company fully co-operated with the investigation, had no previous convictions and there were no aggregating factors. It was agreed there was high culpability and level 3 category risk of harm and that the Company needed the Council’s Environmental Health Officer’s help and advice to get it right.
Councillor Margaret Bell, Chair of the Council’s Community and Environment Board said:
“This was a significant failure by the company to ensure its premises were safe and resulted in a very serious injury to a vulnerable resident. As a result, it is entirely appropriate for North Warwickshire Borough Council to bring a prosecution given the seriousness of the offences.
It is good the company have fully cooperated and have taken the Council’s Environmental Health Officer’s advice to ensure as far as possible that this does not happen again.”