Pontins proprietor charged with company manslaughter over demise of grandmother | EUROtoday

Pontins vacation parks’ mother or father firm has been charged with company manslaughter after a grandmother died when a roof collapsed on visitors at a bar.

Wendy Jones, 68, was among the many 18 individuals who have been injured on the resort in Somerset when a part of a ceiling fell in February 2019, exposing stay broken electrics.

The 68-year-old was rushed to hospital together with 5 different folks after a 40-metre part of structural ducting and ceiling collapsed contained in the leisure space on the Brean Sands web site.

Ms Jones later died in August 2019.

Avon and Somerset Police, along with Somerset Council, investigated and referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) final 12 months.

open picture in gallery

On Tuesday, the power mentioned the CPS had authorised a cost of company manslaughter in opposition to Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, the mother or father firm of Pontins.

Stephen Bennison, 58, of Farington, Lancashire, has been charged with failing to discharge common well being/security responsibility to an individual apart from an worker beneath Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Detective superintendent Roger Doxsey, of Avon and Somerset Police, mentioned: “First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family of Wendy Jones. We have updated them of the CPS’s charging decisions.

“This has been a complex investigation and we’re grateful for the support of Somerset Council and other partners to reach this stage.

“We would like to remind the public that every defendant in the UK is permitted to a fair trial. No commentary, materials or details should be published that could prejudice this court process while proceedings are ongoing.”

The defendants will seem earlier than Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 6 May.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service confirmed on the time that it had been known as to studies of a piece of ducting collapsing into the bar space of a constructing on the vacation park.

It mentioned roughly 40 metres of structural ducting and ceiling sections had fallen, exposing stay broken electrics.

The Independent has approached the Britannia Hotels group, which owns Pontins vacation parks, for remark.