The tenant, Jeanette Saul had phoned Northern Gas after smelling gas at the rental property in Stockton. A Northern Gas engineer then attended, identified a problem and shut off the gas supply attaching a warning notice alerting people to the danger.
That evening, the landlord arrived at the property and ignoring the warning notice, attempted to fix the leak before switching the gas supply back on.
The next morning, the tenant still smelling gas, phoned Northern Gas a second time.
A further Northern Gas engineer attended the property, capped the meter, then arranged for a Gas Registered engineer to complete the required repairs.
Teeside Magistrates Court heard how the landlord, had previously been a Corgi-registered gas fitter, but his accreditation had lapsed in 2001, and although hehas since re-qualified, when he had attempted to fix the gas leak and switched the condemned gas supply back on, he was not.
Walkman pleaded guilty to contravening health and safety regulations.
The landlord's defence, John Turner, argued: ‘
This was an isolated incident and a huge misjudgment. He has no previous convictions. You are dealing here with a normal, respectable family man.’
The judge saw it differently - Wallman received a 26 weeks prison sentence. suspended for 12 months, a £18 victim surcharge alongside £789 in costs.
Seems a bit odd this one. The Gas Safety Regulations require that only "competent" people work on gas. As a landlord, or home owner, you have a duty to ensure the work is done by a competent person and the usual way to do so is to employ somebody who is registered. Clearly this guy wasn't competent or he would have done a tightness test that would have shown the leak was still present. If he had previously been registered, he should have know that. Something doesn't quite add up.
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