Tauranga-based refrigeration company Mobile Refrigeration Specialists (MRS) has lost its bid to appeal its Tamahere coolstore fire sentence.
On March 10, MRS and Icepak Coolstores (now known as Waikato Coldstorage) appeared before Justice Paul Heath in the High Court at Hamilton to appeal their sentences imposed in December for the Icepak
Coolstore explosion.
The April 5, 2008, an explosion killed firefighter Derek Lovell and injured seven of his colleagues.
After a Department of Labour investigation, both companies and one of Icepak's directors pleaded guilty to offences laid under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. MRS was fined $56,200 and ordered to pay $175,000 reparation to the victims when sentenced by Judge Robert Spear in the Hamilton District Court on December 15, while Icepak was fined $37, 200 and ordered to pay $95,000 to the injured firefighters and their families.
Judge Spear also fined Icepak's manager, Wayne Graham, $30,000.
Both companies' lawyers argued that on the basis of information provided to the court at sentence, the fines were manifestly excessive.
However, that view was not shared by Justice Heath, who dismissed the companies' appeals, saying he found Judge Spear to have made no error of law in the approach he had taken in determining the amount of fines, nor could it be said the overall sentences were excessive.
In a written judgment released this month, Justice Heath also dismissed MRS' application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal, saying he was not satisfied the company had shown qualifying grounds to justify a second appeal.
