The former operators of Aberdeen Market have been fined £80,000 for breaching safety rules which resulted in the death of a pensioner.
Frank Finnie fell down a darkened staircase after accidentally going through the wrong door looking for a toilet after going for a coffee at the market on June 7, 2018.
He was found two days later following a massive police search.
Today former operators The Market Village Company – which has since gone into liquidation – admitted failing to comply with fire safety regulations by failing to have sufficient working lights and not maintaining the lighting on a fire escape stairwell.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the lighting and emergency lighting in the south middle fire escape stairwell did not work and that glass on the emergency door was boarded up, preventing any other light getting in.
Sheriff William Summers said the company’s failings directly lead to the “tragic” death of 80-year-old Mr Finnie and fined them £80,000.
But afterwards, Mr Finnie’s son Keith said the punishment would never be enough.
He said: “Dad’s death should have been prevented. We shouldn’t have to be here.”
“Today’s fine is irrelevant to the family. They’ve been fined as a consequence of safety but we think had staff done their job, my dad would still be here today.”
Mr Finnie, who used a walking stick, was reported missing after he failed to return to his sheltered housing complex in Aberdeen on June 7, 2018.
Carers said he had been in “good spirits” as he headed into town, but when he failed to return home they contacted the police, who launched a hunt which took them to the market.
Officers searched the stairwell – with the help of an employee armed with a torch – and found him at the bottom of the stairs. The court heard Mr Finnie would have died instantly.
Fiscal depute Shona Nicholson told the court that an alarm was triggered after Mr Finnie went through the door, and was deactivated by a member of staff – who entered the code but failed to follow protocol and investigate what triggered it.
She said the janitor did not complete the check as he was under the “mistaken belief” a volunteer who had made him aware of the alarm would do so, and vice versa.
Defence advocate Barry Smith expressed “sincere condolences” to Mr Finnie’s family on behalf of The Market Village Company and its directors.
He said that the fire escape had been used exclusively by BHS during their tenancy and market staff were not aware they were responsible for this area when the department store shut down.
Sheriff Summers recognised the “pain and suffering” Mr Finnie’s death had caused his family.
He said the company would have been fined £120,000 if not for their early guilty plea.
Sheriff Summers told the court: “The company failed to ensure lighting in the fire escape stairwell in the south side of the building was properly maintained. These failures led to the tragic death of the late Mr Finnie.”
After the hearing, Alistair Duncan, head of the health and safety investigation unit for the Crown Office, said the incident had been “entirely foreseeable” and could have been avoided if the lighting in the fire escape had been properly maintained.
He added: “The family of Frank Finnie must live with the consequences of the company’s failings.
“While Market Village has taken effective steps to remedy the deficiency in the maintenance of the fire escape stairwell this conviction and sentence should serve as a reminder to other companies to adhere to the regulations and that failure to do so can have tragic consequences.”
