Firm fined for hotel death fall

The court heard how the hotel window was not secured

A company has been fined £400,000 after a woman fell to her death from a third floor window at an Edinburgh hotel.

Janet Ferguson, 65, from Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, died after falling from the window at the Premier Lodge Hotel, in Lauriston Place.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that two screws were missing from a window restrictor in her room.

The Whitbread Group of Luton admitted two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

It pleaded guilty to charges of failing to have had a risk assessment in place and to have ensured its staff were given adequate training in the importance of checking that window restrictors were in place and undamaged.

It is not clear whether guests had somehow prised them (restrictors) off, using a knife or pen knife" Laura Thomson Depute fiscal

Mrs Ferguson, of Biksdale, was on a visit to Edinburgh with her husband Keith, 67, and had checked into the hotel on 10 October last year.

The court heard that it was believed Mrs Ferguson fell from the window after sitting on a window ledge. Her husband was out of the room at the time.

Depute fiscal Laura Thomson told how a room attendant was walking along a corridor at the rear of the hotel when she heard "a big thud".

She looked out of a window and saw Mrs Ferguson lying face down on the ground.

Mr Ferguson had returned to the room and saw the bedroom window open but assumed his wife had gone to buy a newspaper.

A hotel maintenance man had identified the window from which Mrs Ferguson had fallen and had to explain the situation to Mr Ferguson.

Missing restrictors

Ms Thomson explained that Whitbread had purchased the hotel from the Spirit Group in July 2004.

Prior to Mrs Ferguson's death, she said, window restrictor mechanisms had been found to be damaged, missing or disengaged on a number of occasions.

The fiscal added that someone would have to be "really quite determined" to remove the restrictor.

"It would appear the bedrooms became very hot during the summer as there was no air conditioning" she said.

"It is not clear whether guests had somehow prised them off, using a knife or pen knife".

No matter how good the restrictors are, even with tamper-proof screws, it is possible, if someone is determined enough, to open them up Diana Turner Defence solicitor

She added that two guests, who had been in the room on the Saturday before the accident, had said the window could be opened fully.

Police investigations concluded that Mrs Ferguson had lifted herself onto the window ledge and then folded her legs to her side, before falling.

The court heard that if the restrictor been fitted it would not have been possible for her to fall accidentally.

Whitbread solicitor Diana Turner said the company and the staff at the hotel all expressed their deepest sympathy to the family for the tragic accident.

She said Whitbread had bought 141 hotels from the Spirit Group and was in the process of checking all the hotels.

'Only penalty'

It had since fitted tamper-proof screws in all the restrictors in the hotel and was doing the same at all its hotels.

"My client is running a hotel and not a prison and no matter how good the restrictors are, even with tamper-proof screws, it is possible, if someone is determined enough, to open them up," she said.

"People cannot be watched 24-hours a day".

Sheriff Kenneth MacIver said the only penalty he could impose under the current law was a financial one.

He added that nothing could not compensate the family for their loss but said he had to take into account the fact that the Whitbread Group had only taken over the new hotels two-and-a-half months before the incident and were in the process of ensuring they had been checked.

The sheriff said he hoped others in the hotel industry would take steps to ensure that a similar incident did not occur again.