Antrobus Arms hotel sentenced over fireworks injuries

The organisers of a fireworks display which left 13 spectators, including 11 children, injured have been fined £8,000.

The event was held at the Antrobus Arms, in Amesbury, on 4 November 2017.

Wiltshire Council said organisers had failed to follow instructions printed on the fireworks and HSE guidance for safe firework displays.

Fitzbride Ltd, the operators of the hotel, were sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court on Thursday.

Fitzbride Ltd purchased the fireworks from a supermarket and set up the display after an organised event in the town had been cancelled, the council said.

The fireworks became unstable sending projectiles towards the crowd

Rather than burying a 'Powershock' firework in the ground to stabilise it, the fireworks were set out on plyboard on top of a garden picnic table, surrounded by clay bricks, the council said.

Moments after the display started, fireworks on the table became unstable, and burning material was discharged sideways and forwards into the crowd.

Thirteen people sustained injuries, including burns to the body and face.

During an investigation, council officers discovered that injuries suffered by spectators were a direct result of failure to follow the required safe measures.

The authority said no evidence of malfunction of the fireworks due to faulty manufacture was established.

Fitzbride Ltd pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, admitting failure in their duty to safeguard their employees and members of the public.

The organisers were fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £8,000 worth of costs.