County council enters guilty plea in firefighters death case

Warwickshire County Council has entered into a guilty plea to the charge it faced over a fire that claimed the lives of four firefighters in November 2007.

The four firemen who died as a result of the incident at the premises of Wealmoor (Atherstone) Ltd were Ian Reid, John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Bradley.

Warwickshire was accused of failing to ensure the safety of its employees at work under section 2 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

Chris Green, the local authority’s legal representative, said: “Warwickshire County Council has today entered a guilty plea to the charge it faces in connection with the Atherstone fire. That plea is entered on a limited basis and we should make it clear that we do not accept many of the allegations made by the prosecution.

“We believe it is very important that we say nothing that in any way prejudices the legal proceedings about these tragic events so we will not be saying anything further except that our thoughts today are with the families and friends of all those affected by the Atherstone fire just over four years ago.”

Three Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service managers – Paul Simmons, Adrian Ashley and Timothy Woodward – also faced charges of manslaughter by gross negligence.

According to the BBC, the three men are yet to enter into a plea. Their case has been adjourned to a date yet to be set, the report said.