A hospital where a father of three died after contracting Legionnaires' disease from a dirty shower head has been fined £80,000 for "blatantly" ignoring safety guidelines.
Daryl Eyles, 37, had just been told that he was in remission from leukaemia and was due to be discharged when he caught the bug at Bath's Royal United Hospital in 2004.
The hospital later admitted liability for his death after an investigation found basic maintenance of its water system had not been carried out.
It was told to pay a fine of £80,000 and costs of £23,883 after pleading guilty at Bristol Crown Court to two charges of carrying out "inadequate" safety checks.
Mr Eyles, a security guard at Bath University, was diagnosed with leukaemia after he developed an abscess in August 2003.
After enduring months of treatment, doctors told him he had achieved "complete remission" and was likely to make a full recovery from the cancer.
But he contracted legionnaires' disease shortly after his fourth and final chemotherapy session in January 2004. Mr Eyles had taken a shower at the William Budd Oncology Unit, which had become a breeding ground for the bug. He became ill with a fever and died a week later on February 13.
Speaking outside the court, the Eyles family said they had been left devastated by Daryl's death. His mother Peggy, 74, said: "As a mother you don't expect to lose a son before yourself.
"You expect to see your children grow up, get married and have children.
"We were told he was in complete remission and that he would have lived a full and active life. For this to happen was devastating."
