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Student sues landlord after property fire
Posted by Daniel Stevens
A student who sustained 80 per cent burns to her body and lost all the skin below her neck in a fire at her property in Norwich is suing her landlord for £2 million in compensation.
Layla Skalli has launched a civil claim against Michael Billings, 55, who was jailed for 30 months earlier this year after admitting 14 breaches of health and fire safety regulations, although this was reduced to 21 months when he agreed to pay £20,000 in compensation, the Norwich Evening News reports.
Ms Skalli's lawyer, Christopher Wilson-Smith, said negligence was plain, as there were no fire precautions, fire-fighting equipment, emergency lighting or smoke alarms in place.
"Had any of the aforementioned steps been taken, she would have been alerted to the fire and would have escaped without suffering the injuries that she did," he continued.
It comes after a Scarborough-based landlord was prosecuted for failing to comply with fire safety legislation and not providing an adequate means of escape, emergency lighting or a detection system.
19/11/2010 13:30
News category: Accident and Injury