Trial date set over death of woman at Westhoughton pub

Elaine Horrocks was just 54 years old when she was found dead in the cellar at the bottom of nine concrete steps at the Rosehill Tavern on Leigh Road in Westhoughton.

Ahead of a trial next year, the prosecution, brought by Bolton Council, has argued the design of the pub may have been unsafe.

Simon Hilton, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution see this as a case which has one central issue, which is that the build of the pub has a dangerous feature.”

The Rosehill Tavern, Leigh Road, Westhoughton (Image: Google Maps)

Mrs Horrocks, of Birch Avenue in Westhoughton, died after badly injuring her head falling down the stairs into the pub cellar on January 13, 2018.

She was found by another customer at the Rosehill Tavern, 10 minutes after she was last seen on the pub’s CCTV.

An inquest ruled that death to be accidental, but coroner John Pollard described the cellar as "dangerous" and said he would be writing to Joseph Holt Brewery with a regulation 28 notice, telling them he was fearful of future deaths at the premises.

Brewery Joseph Holt Ltd had already been prepared to plead guilty to failing to take reasonable measures to ensure that the pub was safe.

The offence they admitted to at the time stated: “Joseph Holt Ltd, being a legal person having control of the premises known as Rosehill Tavern, Leigh Road, Bolton, failed to take such measures as were reasonable for one in its position to take to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that the premises were safe in that the means of access onto (and egress from) the stairway leading into the cellar area presented a risk of falling, and was not safe for persons using it.”

But this was not deemed acceptable as a basis of plea to the court.

The Honorary Recorder for Bolton Martin Walsh ruled that it did “not address the critical issue as to whether there was or was not any level of culpability on behalf of the brewery towards the circumstances that gave rise to the tragic incident".

In response Harry Vann, defending, vacated the company’s guilty plea in July this year, paving the way for next year’s trial.

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At a pre-trial review this week he said that he would be calling expert witnesses to give evidence including a toxicologist and a surveyor.

Mr Vann said that this would demonstrate that the steep cellar "is typical of many pubs built around that time".

Judge Walsh ruled the court will need to receive a prosecution opening, an agreed bundle for the jury, formal admissions and a trial indictment by February 28 next year.

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There will also be an agreed bundle of statements and exhibits from both the prosecution and defence by March 28.

Once underway, the court may decide on taking the jury for a site visit to see the pub for themselves or may otherwise rely on photographs and video footage.

The trial is set to begin on May 8 and is expected to run for five to seven days.