Anthony Coates, a company director from Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, was prosecuted by West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service for breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (2005) at a sentencing in Lewes Crown Court.
Coates was the director of two companies involved in the purchase and renovation of Columbia House in Romany Road, Worthing.
The former office building was being converted into a seven-storey block of flats when Coates allowed the premises to be occupied before the escape routes – the corridor and stairs – had been signed off as fire safety compliant. At a hearing in January, Coates pleaded guilty to five charges under the Fire Safety Order for the offences committed in 2022.
The court heard that a fire safety inspecting officer, who was working on the building regulation consultation for this premises, noticed lots of vehicles in the residents’ car park when passing by. Upon investigation it became apparent that residents had wrongly been allowed to move into the properties.
According to West Sussex Fire & Rescue, this negligence endangered approximately 30 residents and undermined the building’s fire safety strategy.
On 14th March 2025 Coates was sentenced to six months imprisonment and suspended for 12 months, along with a requirement to undertake 150 hours of unpaid community work, and fined £1,000.
Dave Bray, head of fire safety at West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, said: “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this case and believe it serves as a strong reminder to all those responsible for the design, construction, occupation and management of premises in West Sussex, to which the Fire Safety Order applies, that the duties placed upon them by the Fire Safety Order are taken seriously.
“Duty holders are reminded that the Fire Safety Order is in place to protect life in the event of a fire. As such, the highest sanctions possible will be sought where these failings endanger the lives of residents and visitors to West Sussex.”
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