'Cavalier' tanning salon owner faces possible jail term; Mum of burned girl says case 'sends a strong message'

0 Comments | Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), Nov 18, 2009

Byline: Madeleine Brindley

THE owner of an unmanned tanning salon where a teenager suffered first-degree burns had a "cavalier" approach to health and safety, a court heard yesterday.

James Hadley, 25, appeared in court to admit five health and safety offences relating to the Lextan salon in Barry where schoolgirl Kirsty McRae suffered 70% first-degree burns.

In what is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in the UK, the 25-year-old, from Resolven, pleaded guilty to charges including failing to man the salon, not providing protective eyewear and not limiting one of the sunbeds to 15 minutes.

The charges were brought by the Vale of Glamorgan Council following an inspection of the business after schoolgirl Kirsty McRae suffered injuries at the salon.

The 14-year-old was treated in hospital after she ignored notices warning under-16s not to use the coin-operated machines in February and spent 19 minutes on one of the powerful sunbeds.

Jill McRae, Kirsty's mother, said the prosecution sends a "strong message" to the sunbed industry.

She added: "In conjunction with the National Assembly's recent report on sunbeds, this is working towards making the whole thing safer.

"It will never be completely safe but anything that reduces the risk for vulnerable young people is a step in the right direction."

Barry Magistrates' Court yesterday heard that Cardiff University graduate Mr Hadley had received a phone call from a "disgruntled" parent earlier in February.

He was informed that underage schoolgirls were using his salon and he pledged to man the salon at "peak" hours.

But Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said that did not happen immediately.

When environmental health officers made another visit in April they discovered a 16-year-old girl had been employed to man the salon between 2pm and 4pm.

One of the charges against Mr Hadley - who was described as an entrepreneur yesterday - relates to the teenager's employment without a proper young person's risk assessment. Mr Reynolds said: "Mr Hadley did carry out a risk assessment and it recognised, in places, that there was a danger and risks involved.

"It made an effort to put control measures in place and minimise those risks but it's clear where control measures were identified often they were not put in place.

"Mr Hadley had identified issues with underage girls using the salon and that it ought to be manned at peak hours.

"It is clear that he failed to man the salon at peak hours, certainly around the February time.

"By his plea he is now accepting that, in reality, that the salon ought to be manned permanently."

He added: "The risks of running an unmanned salon are obvious and foreseeable which is why the local authority, very soon after opening, was on top of the issues and made various recommendations about the running of the unmanned salon."

Barry Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Hadley has since taken steps to staff his chain of six tanning salons across South Wales, which has, in turn, affected his profits.

Mark Owen, defending, told the court that when Mr Hadley opened the Barry salon in 2008 and at the time of the February 17 inspection the Health and Safety Executive was "silent" on unmanned tanning salons.

He said his client was "greatly troubled" by the prosecution and that he was not someone who took his health and safety obligations lightly.

But District Judge Charles, who adjourned sentencing until December 8, said: "This is a serious matter and, in my view, Mr Hadley's approach seems to have been cavalier in relation to health and safety legislation."

CAPTION(S):

GUILTY: Tanning salon owner, James Hadley, leaves Barry Magistrates Court, Vale of Glamorgan, after being told he could face a prison sentence for disregarding health and safety regulations in his tanning salon, Lextan, where Kirsty McRae, below, suffered 70% burns