The owners of a top north-east hotel have been fined £10,000 after admitting putting a baby’s life in danger after she plunged from an upstairs window.
The 15-month old girl – who cannot be named for legal reasons – fell from the first floor of Meldrum House Hotel’s luxurious converted stables.
The incident came to light after an investigation that the window had no catch or device to stop it from opening, and bosses were charged with putting the child at risk of injury – and even death.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court this morning, Meldrum House Estates Ltd, which owns the four-star site at Oldmeldrum, were fined for endangering the child’s life and breaking health and safety laws by failing to carry out proper assessments.
Sheriff Annella Cowan said the hotel owners had shown no signs of “penny pinching” and said that they had taken steps to ensure the likelihood of an accident happening was low.
She said: “The risk of a 15 month old child being in the position to open two closure fittings while with her parents was, in my view, a very remote risk.”
The sheriff said that given the maximum penalty she could impose was a fine of £20,000 she felt half was appropriate given the child was not seriously injured and the company had accepted its guilt at a very early stage.
Speaking after the first time the case called Meldrum House Estates chief executive Andy Burgess said that the company had been “devastated” by the incident.
He said they thought they had done everything possible during the refurbishment to ensure something like this would never happen.
He also insisted that the little girl had not been seriously injured when she fell through the “small” window.
“We felt that we had taken all the professional advice that we could to prevent any sort of incident happening,” he said.
“It was an unfortunate accident and we are just thankful that the little girl in question was not seriously hurt.”
The fall happened on April 27, 2012, more than two years after the hotel officially opened its newly-converted stable block, an A-listed building dating back to 1628.
A £2.5million refurbishment in 2009 transformed Meldrum House into an award-winning resort.
It included a marquee beside the main hotel that has helped make the venue a popular choice for weddings.
The grounds surrounding the hotel were also completely revamped and now include a championship 18-hole golf course.