Two pub owners have been sentenced after a woman died after falling into the basement.
Olwen Collier, 69, visited the Stag and Pheasant Inn in Carmel, Carmarthenshire on January 12, 2023 to help organize a “surprise” birthday party for her daughter.
He opened the basement door, which he believed led to a function room.
Philip Hawkins, 49, and Tracey Hawkins, 53, both from the Bridgend area, had been tenant landlords of the pub for about four months before the incident.
Prosecution barrister Mr Reynolds told the court there were “vague and inadequate signs on the door” leading to the basement.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Mr Hawkins told Mrs Collier’s party on arrival to “turn around the corner, go to the right”.
Mrs. Hawkins was at that time in bed due to illness.
Mrs Collier’s grandson Emir Raymond said in his victim impact statement that immediately after his grandmother fell he asked Mr Hawkins “Why was the door opened?”
The landlord replied that he was “changing the barrel”.
‘Absolute tragedy’
Alison Raymond said she was a “regular” at the pub but her mother, Mrs Collier, “never came”.
Mrs Collier suffered “fractures to her skull” and “severe swelling of her brain”.
He was taken to hospital where he was put into a coma.
Mrs Collier never recovered from her injuries and died on 16 January 2023.
In mitigation, Mr Ibrahim said the court should consider both defendants of “good character”.
“What happened that day was a tragedy, an absolute tragedy,” he said.
“They are broken people and they are completely remorseful.”
‘Completely avoidable’
Judge Thomas said it was an “extremely tragic and entirely avoidable death”.
“The word tragic is often overused, even in these courts,” he said at the sentencing hearing.
“However, this case completely conforms to that description. That day a family happy occasion turned into the most tragic of events.”
Judge Thomas said that “a healthy, beloved woman, Mrs. Collier lost her life”.
“It happened because of you two [Mr and Mrs Hawkins] You did not exercise adequate, even the most basic, care in protecting your customers.”
The judge said it was “a fatal accident waiting to happen”.
“Your responsibility was to ensure that no member of the public could enter that room.”
The judge acknowledged that the defendants were “inexperienced” tenants.
When sentencing, he took into account his guilty pleas at a previous hearing in the magistrate’s court.
Read more from Sky News:
Warwick Davis apologizes for causing concern in post
Woman jailed for murder of schoolgirl in 1996
Keep up to date with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Both defendants were given suspended sentences of 18 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
Mr Hawkins was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
