Byrne Hotels was fined £800 yesterday in the Dublin District Court in the case of a waitress who burned to death after employees of the Killiney Court Hotel used methylated spirits to flambe a dessert.
In addition, Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick fined the company £1,000 for injuries to two other women and a further £500 for lack of training.
While the fine might appear lenient to relatives, the maximum was £1,000 for each offence and he had to take account of a guilty plea, the lack of previous prosecutions and the fact that the hotel was normally well run, the judge added.
Ms Pauline Henderson died due to the ignorance of staff, Judge Fitzpatrick said.
The court heard that hotel employees had tried to use methylated spirits to flambe a baked alaska dessert at a wedding reception on July 25th last year when they could not find any sparklers.
Ms Henderson was engulfed in flame and later died in hospital. A health and safety inspector, Mr Martin O'Dea, said this spirit had a very low flashpoint and should not have been used "under any circumstances."
Another waitress, Ms Ann Downey, received serious burns to her neck, arms and legs, while a third, Ms Pauline Perry, was slightly burned, Mr O'Dea added.