York company and boss fined £46K after customer suffers serious injury at top hotel

A York leisure company and one of its directors have been fined after a customer was hurt on the premises of a leading hotel.

Queens Staith Leisure Ltd was prosecuted for health and safety breaches following an incident in which a visitor suffered a serious ankle injury at the Parsonage Hotel & Spa at Escrick.

It happened on 2 October 2021. Last Friday (17 February) a company director appeared at York Magistrates’ Court.

Philip Smith is a director of Queens Staith Leisure Ltd, based at Lordsmoor Lane, Strensall, York, which runs the Parsonage spa.

Both the company and director were charged under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

The charges related to failures in health and safety policies, risk assessments and the effective training of staff.

Queens Staith Leisure was fined £40,000, given a £190 victim surcharge and ordered to pay a contribution to prosecution costs of £10,524.44.

Philip Smith was fined £6,422, given a £190 victim surcharge and ordered to pay a contribution to prosecution costs of £1,739.70.  

Found six miles south of York, the Parsonage spa includes five treatment rooms, a 16 metre swimming pool, Jacuzzi, large gymnasium, sauna, stream room, aromatherapy and salt rooms. It has a 4.0 rating on TripAdvisor.

The prosecution was brought by Selby District Council.

Executive member for health and culture, Cllr Tim Grogan, commented: “This is another successful prosecution by our environmental health team who work diligently to keep residents of the Selby district safe.

“They’ve worked hard to secure this result and the court’s decision sends a clear message that the safety of customers visiting establishments in our district is a high priority.”