Two self-employed fireplace installers have been sentenced after carrying out unregistered gas work.
Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard that from August 2015 to February 2017, Karl Welsh and James Allen installed new gas fires in three North West domestic properties, despite not being Gas Safe registered.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that substandard and, in some cases, dangerous gas work was undertaken at the properties. Gas Safe inspectors attended all three properties, and found that two of the properties had installation defects that were immediately dangerous, one of which was spilling excessive carbon monoxide into the room.
Karl Welsh, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and James Allen of Radcliffe, Bury, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 3(1), 3(3) and 5(3) of the Gas Safety Regulations 1998. Both were given a 10 months suspended sentence and 150 hours unpaid community work, with Welsh ordered to pay £2200 toward the costs and Allen £1000.
One of the victims was Ken Ashcroft, a 70-year-old pensioner, described to The Lancashire Post how his gas fire ‘exploded’ and was left with a £4000 repair bill.
Speaking about his experience, Ken Ashcroft said: “At this point the fire had been on for four hours. There was a bang behind the fireplace. We were sat in the sitting room at the back of the house. I ran to the front door at first because it sounded like it came from there.
“I then went to the living room [where the fireplace is] and there was a terrible smell.
“The fireplace was red hot. If we had not come across it when we did we would have been in serious trouble.”
Ken revealed that experts had told him that the heat proof blocks surrounding the fire were not the correct blocks, explaining the loud bang he and Marlene heard.
Picture of Ken Ashcroft source: The Lancashire Post
