Company fined £80,000 for failings leading to man’s death at Aberdeen Market

The company which operated Aberdeen Market has been fined £80,000 after it admitted failings resulting in the death of an 80-year-old man.

Frank Finnie’s body was found at the bottom of a fire escape stairwell at Aberdeen Market on June 9, 2018 by a police officer who was investigating his disappearance, after he was reported as a missing person by care workers at his sheltered housing accommodation the day before.

The circumstances around the death were jointly investigated by Police Scotland and Aberdeen City Council, which found the company had failed to ensure a suitable system of maintenance was in place, and failed to maintain the lighting within the south middle fire escape stairwell.

The Market Village Company Limited  has now been fined £80,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after admitting that between June 1, 2017 and June 9, 2018  it failed to ensure that the lighting within a fire escape stairwell was maintained.

Alistair Duncan, Head of the Health and Safety Investigation Unit, Crown Office, said: “This fatal incident was entirely foreseeable and could have been avoided had Market Village ensured that the lighting in the fire escape stairwell had been properly maintained

“The family of Frank Finnie must live with the consequences of the company’s failings.

“While Market Village has taken effective steps to remedy the deficiency in the maintenance of the fire escape stairwell this conviction and sentence should serve as a reminder to other companies to adhere to the regulations and that failure to do so can have tragic consequences.”