Firm fined £600k over prisoner legionnaires' death

A company has been fined £600,000 after it failed to manage the risk of legionella bacteria in water systems at a prison, which led to a prisoner's death.

Graham Butterworth died on 5 December 2017 after contracting legionnaires' disease while serving a prison sentence at HMP Lincoln.

Amey Community Limited, which provided facilities management services at the prison, pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence.

The company said there were many "complicating factors" which made it "hard to completely manage the risk" of contracting legionella.

Butterworth, from Countesthorpe in Leicestershire, was jailed for 11 years in 2016 after being found guilty of 10 counts of indecent assault against two boys aged 14 and 15 in the 1980s.

Water samples from Butterworth's cell and nearby shower blocks tested positive for legionella days after the 71-year-old died, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.

Amey Community Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

An investigation by the HSE found the company failed to act on a risk assessment carried out in 2016.

It found the firm did not have a scheme for preventing and controlling legionella risks, failed to ensure appropriate water temperatures were maintained, and did not monitor water temperatures in the system in October and November 2017.

This allowed the bacteria to multiply "rapidly", the HSE said.

The company was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay £15,186.85 in costs at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Amey Community Limited said: "ACL accepts that while it had an extensive legionella testing and management regime in place at HMP Lincoln, in a small number of areas it was not fully compliant with all elements of this regime.

"There were a number of complicating factors, mainly due to the ageing infrastructure, which made it particularly hard to completely manage the risk from exposure to the legionella bacteria at the prison."

HSE inspector Stacey Gamwell said: "There is a legal duty to keep workers and inmates safe in prisons.

"The occupants of HMP Lincoln had been put at risk of legionella bacteria and developing Legionnaires' disease because of Amey Community Limited's failures."

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