A PENSIONER could have lived to 100 if he had not died as a result of the borough council's poor health and safety management, a judge was told.

The family of Lewis Payne claimed he was well other than a broken leg before his life was cut short after contracting Legionnaires' disease at the Willows Care Home in Reading.

Reading Borough Council was ordered to pay a £100,000 fine for failing to minimise the risk of the disease at Reading Crown Court today.

A statement written by Lewis's son Andrew Payne was read out in court by Judge Alexia Durran, which said: "His father was at the time a great great grandfather.

"He believed he may have gone on to celebrate his 100th birthday."

Despite not being able to prove scientifically the disease was contracted from the care home, investigations and a coroner's report revealed it was almost definitely the source.

The judge heard that only one of the three members of staff working in the Hexham Road care home had sufficient Legionella training.

That employee was also charged with carrying out the appropriate safety checks, but when he was taken ill in the summer of 2012 there was nobody to step up and take on his duties.

Prosecuting, Mark Watson, said: "An investigation revealed a number of shortcomings in the control of Legionnaires' disease by the borough council.

"The shortcomings exposed residents and potentially members of staff to the risk of Legionella."

He added contractors picked up on number of problems during a risk assessment in September, 2011, but many of the hazards were not adjusted until "the alarm bells started to ring" when Mr Payne was diagnosed on October 19, 2012.

The 95-year-old died two weeks later.

He is believed to have contracted the disease from a bathroom tap in his ground floor room.

Defending, Iain Daniels, said: "Mr Wardle [the council's managing director] will indicate how seriously the council takes this particular case and how it views its obligation to the people in its care and the payers of council tax.

"It's a good local authority.

"These failings were not as a result of ignorance.

"Local authorities are being asked to deliver the same or in fact better services to a larger population with less money.

"The council took prompt and sufficient action to address the issues.

"What really went wrong was the findings of that risk assessment were not cascaded down to the manager and the handyman [at the Willows]."

Sentencing the borough council, Judge Durran said residents should expect better from their local authority in terms of care, adding: "The prosecution are right to describe the failings as systemic and over a long period of time.

"The risk continued just a bit over a year and they fall significantly below the standard required by the Code of Practice.

"There have been a significant amount of improvements."

The judge added that the staff at the care home were in no way to be blamed for Mr Payne's death, and the problem lay with the communication from upper management.

A borough council spokesman added: "Following today’s Court hearing, the Council would like to apologise and to again express our sincere condolences to the family of Mr Payne.

"While an inquest into Mr Payne’s death found there is no way of knowing for sure where and when he was exposed to Legionella, the council acknowledges it was likely to have been during his short stay at The Willows. We fully accept the council’s failing to have adequate control measures in place at the time and this was reflected in our plea.

"The council’s own investigations found the correct safety systems were in place at the time to control Legionella. Insufficient staff training however resulted in the necessary checks not being carried out or recorded properly."

The judge also ordered the council to pay £20,000 in court costs.

Reading Borough Council admitted to one health and safety breach at an earlier hearing at Reading Magistrates' Court.