Severn Trent Water is fined Pounds 2m over false leakage data

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*Severn Trent Water escaped with a lower-than-expected fine of 2m after it pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to lying about leakage information for two years. After an investigat-ion by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Britain's second-biggest water company admitted that it falsely reported leakage data to the water industry regulator Ofwat in 2001 and 2002. The charge carried the possibility of unlimited fines and some analysts had predicted a record 70m censure, but Judge Jeremy Roberts handed down a 2m fine and ordered Severn Trent to pay the SFO's court costs of 220,000. Tony Wray, the company's chief executive, blamed its former management and said no one who was responsible still worked for the group. "We deeply regret the mistakes of the previous regime. There were indefensible shortcomings in Severn Trent's previous management and control systems during the 2000 to 2004 era."

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