A $667.25 fine seems like a “pittance” after a house fire killed a father and five children, but it was the maximum penalty a magistrate could give Donna Rose Beadel for failing to install compliant smoke alarms. with the rules.
A Moreton Bay community near Brisbane was left in shock after Wayne Godinet, 34, and his five children died when Beadel’s Russell Island home caught fire in August 2023.
Among the children were four-year-old twins, and the other children were 11, 10 and three years old.
His mother Samantha Stephenson and another woman survived after fleeing when the early morning fire ripped through the two-storey Todman Street property.
A $667.25 fine seems like a “pittance” after a house fire killed a father and five children, but it was the maximum penalty a magistrate could give Donna Rose Beadel for failing to install compliant smoke alarms. with the rules.
A Moreton Bay community near Brisbane was left in shock after Wayne Godinet, 34, and his five children died when Beadel’s Russell Island home caught fire in August 2023.
The fire also destroyed two neighboring homes and left several people needing treatment for minor burns and smoke inhalation.
The property’s owner, Beadel, 61, had not installed smoke detectors in the home.
Beadel, from Tweed Heads in New South Wales, was not present when the deadly fire occurred or when she was sentenced at Cleveland Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Deborah Vasta read Beadel’s guilty plea, which had been entered in writing, to a charge that the landlord failed to install a smoke alarm.
The house, believed to be more than 100 years old, had been relocated from Hendra in Brisbane about 12 months after Beadel bought the island block in about 2011, the court heard.
He had hired an electrician to do the work, including installing smoke alarms, which was needed at the time.
Beadel used the home for vacations, intended to move there later, and was unable to inspect the property in 2021 due to border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He returned in April 2022 after his partner lost everything in the floods.
Beadel rented the house on a verbal-only lease for $370 a week after cleaning it and checking that the smoke alarms were working.
However, Beadel told the court he was not aware of the state’s 2022 smoke alarm legislation.
The law change requires all Queensland rental properties to be equipped with working smoke alarms on every floor, including each bedroom and in the hallways connecting them.
Smoke alarms must also be interconnected in a home so that they all activate together.
Ms Vasta imposed a maximum fine of $667.25 for non-compliance with the legislation.
“It seems like a pittance, but it’s not my place to comment on the laws,” he said.
He took into account that Beadel pleaded guilty as soon as possible, appeared remorseful and had no criminal record.
“It is no excuse that you have not complied with the laws required of an investment property owner by having the premises legally wired with smoke detectors after January 2022,” Ms Vasta said.
No conviction was recorded.
The deaths are before the coroner.
The fire also destroyed two neighboring homes and left several people needing treatment for minor burns and smoke inhalation.
The deaths are before the coroner.
Vasta said he had no evidence whether the smoke alarms were working or whether the outcome would have been different if the home had been legally wired.
“I am simply condemning a homeowner for failing to comply with current law; I am not imposing a sentence that is defined by the tragic outcome of her actions.”
The magistrate said she hoped the court proceedings would not be reduced to inflammatory social commentary in which people said the fine was the value of an individual soul.
“Such reasoning is simply childish and foolish and only serves to fan the flames of outrage that may be surrounding these very tragic circumstances.”