Businessman who checked guests into his hotel while it was still being BUILT is hit with a £50,000 court bill

• Naveed Mir, 51, owned the Bank Hotel on Ripple Road in Barking, east London
• Hotel was issued with 4 month Prohibition Notice after inspection in May 2018
• LFB found several breaches of Fire Safety Order, believing it unsafe for guests 
• When they returned one month later, they found hotel continued to take guests 

A businessman who allowed guests to book into his hotel while it was still being built has been handed a £50,000 court bill. 

Naveed Mir, 51, bought a former Barclays bank and converted it into the Bank Hotel on Ripple Road in Barking, east London.

During an inspection on May 25 2018, London Fire Brigade (LFB) officers found several breaches of the Fire Safety Order, and the hotel was issued with a Prohibition Notice, lasting for four months.

The LFB visited again on June 19 and July 20 and discovered that the hotel had continued to take in guests and workers at a time when the hotel was still not safe.

Naveed Mir, 51, bought a former Barclays bank and converted it into the Bank Hotel on Ripple Road in Barking, east London

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Tanveer Qureshi, defending Mir, said: ‘He has been in the hotel industry in the past. It went badly wrong on this occasion.

‘The defendant committed the offence over a very short period of time.’

‘He did not seek to disrupt or obstruct the inspectors.

‘All inspections were unannounced.

‘He was cooperative.

‘There is good reason that immediate imprisonment should not be imposed in this case.’

The judge, Mr Recorder Nigel Sangster said that Mir’s breach was ‘deliberate’ adding that he was ‘fully aware’ of his decision to let guests stay – dishing out a hefty fine.

He said: ‘Mr Mir failed to comply with the prohibition order.

‘He allowed guests to stay there.

‘I am satisfied that the defendant was fully aware that the building was in no fit state for anyone to sleep there.

‘The reason he allowed workers to stay there was because of financial pressures.

‘He was in need of funds to complete the project.

‘This was a deliberate breach of the prohibition notice.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court handed Mir an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He also had to pay a £40,000 fine, and £10,000 towards the prosecution costs

‘This clearly passes the custody threshold.’

Mir, of Barking, was given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

He also had to pay a £40,000 fine, and £10,000 towards the prosecution costs.

The judge said: ‘There was very little financial gain on the part of Mr Mir.

‘Putting the lives of workers and guests at risk is a very serious offence.’

Mir denied the claims but was convicted of three counts of failing to comply with a requirement/ prohibition where failure risks death/serious injury in case of fire and two counts of failing to comply with any prohibition or restriction imposed by a prohibition notice.

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