Open verdicts on deaths of Staffordshire trio killed in blaze

Jun 12 2009

A coroner has recorded open verdicts on the deaths of three Staffordshire people killed in a fire at a Cornish seafront hotel.

Joan Harper, 80, Peter Hughes, 43, and his mother Monica, 86, all died following the blaze at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay in the early hours of Saturday, August 18, 2007.

Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon confirmed her intentions to write to the Government after a jury returned open verdicts.

Dr Carlyon told Cornwall Coroner's Court, sitting at Truro Crown Court, that changes in fire safety regulation, which came into force in October 2006, had raised concerns during the inquest.

Specifically the Fire Safety Order 2005 places the burden of responsibility of complying with safety measures on the owner of a premises, Dr Carlyon said.