Primary school fined £35K after pupil suffered burns to nearly half of body at carol concert

A primary school has been fined £35,000 after a child received 45 per cent burns to their body at a carol concert.

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School, in Birchanger Road, Croydon, was found guilty of health and safety failings by a jury at Southwark Crown Court last month, following an incident at a church in December 2019.

During a carol concert, 60 Year 3 children from the school were waiting in costume, in a narrow corridor, holding 10-inch lit taper candles at the Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Bingham Road, Croydon.

As they were waiting, a home-made sheep costume, made out of cotton wool balls and worn by a seven-year-old boy, caught fire.

The fire was extinguished with some difficulty and the child received first aid at the scene before being taken by air ambulance to Broomfield Hospital.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the school had failed to take appropriate measures to account for the risks inherent with giving lit candles to children, while wearing potentially flammable costumes.

The injuries sustained by the boy will require ongoing, regular, invasive surgeries throughout his youth and into adulthood, and have been life-changing for him and his family.

The school pleaded not guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act but was found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on June 19.

At Southwark Crown Court on Friday, the school was fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £25,970 in costs

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sarah Whittle said: “This was a shocking and scary incident that could have so easily been avoided.

“Common sense alone should have been enough to see the risk. Mitigation in this case would have been the substitution of wax candles for flameless ones, thereby reducing the risk to zero.

“This was a step the school took after the incident, but by then it was far too late for a young child who will be forever affected by this.

“The importance of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has never been made so clear.”

Judge Philip Bartle also ordered that the school should pay £25,970 in prosecution costs, and that victim compensation should be dealt with by the civil courts.

In defence of the school, the court heard that the board of governors apologised to the family, that the school has a good health and safety record and that it has banned the use of candles.

St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School has been contacted for comment.

Pictured top: St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School (Picture: Google Street View)