Flat owner gets community order amid fire concerns

The director of a company which ran a high-rise residential block of flats has been given an 18-month community order for fire safety failures which experts said placed residents at risk of death or serious injury.

Stephen David Phillips, 56, who owns Latitude 52 in Albert Road, Plymouth, was also ordered to pay about £35,000 in costs at Plymouth Crown Court.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said failings were found during an inspection in 2021 as part of a programme of checks on high-rise residences following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Charles Morgan, 51 from Poole, Dorset, was also fined and given a community order for failing to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.

The building was formerly the five-storey-high Royal Sailors' Rest, built in the late 1950s. It was later student accommodation before having two more storeys added to it as part redevelopment works.

The fire service said safety inspectors found a number of serious defects in the building, which has 117 flats and more than 200 residents, during a four-year investigation.

Those included the removal of smoke control fans and unauthorised building works that created a risk of fire spreading within the building.

It said the standard of fire-resisting construction was "found to be inadequate", which, in the event of a fire, flames and smoke "could spread more easily and compromise one of the building's escape staircases".

The two men and the management company which ran the block, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to several charges which occurred between April 2008 and June 2016.

Phillips admitted failing to have in place a suitable system of maintenance for a mechanical ventilation system, failing to maintain integrity of emergency routes and failing to take general fire precautions.

Morgan admitted one charge of failing to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.

At the time of the offences, Phillips was a director of the resident management company.

He also owned several flats within the building and was the controlling mind of Lilian Owen Limited, which owned the premises.

Phillips was fined and given a community order for 18 months and 240 hours of unpaid work.

Morgan received a 12-month community order and told to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and pay a contribution of the £35,000.

Deputy chief fire officer Gerald Taylor said: "Had there been a fire in that building, [residents] would have been in real peril as a result of the work Mr Phillips particularly had done".

Martin Sleigh, the fire services service's protection legal support manager, said it was "a significant prosecution in the fire safety sector nationally".

He said: "We will always take the required action to ensure people are as safe as possible in the places where they live and work."

In a statement, Latitude 52 Management Company Limited "admitted failures" and apologised to leaseholders and residents of the building for them and their impact.

It said: "The board in place at the time of the failures has been replaced in its entirety, and the company is now responsibly and carefully managed for the benefit of the leaseholders and residents."

It said it had worked hard to address the "historic failures" and invested over £1.5m in fire safety measures since 2022.

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.