Plumber handed suspended jail sentence after giving landlord false information
Added 25.11.09
A plumber who signed the landlord’s gas safety record using a false CORGI registration number has been given two suspended prison sentences and 100 hours community service for endangering homeowners’ lives in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Nottinghamshire County Council Trading Standards jointly prosecuted Lee Underwood, from Forest Town, Mansfield, trading as LPH and Lee Plumbing and Heating.
After pleading guilty at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court Underwood was recently sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court.
He was given a 52 week prison sentence, suspended for two years, for two offences under the Fraud Act 2006 after providing a fraudulent CORGI registration and a false business address on Gas Safety Certificates.
He was also sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment, to run concurrently and suspended for two years, for each of three offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in relation to falsely advertising in the Mansfield Chad that he was CORGI registered.
The courts heard that Underwood used a false CORGI registration number on a gas safety record he gave to a landlord for his tenanted property in Newton. Another case involved a property in South Normanton, Derbyshire, where the boiler, which had been left in operation, was classed by the inspector as an immediate danger to life or property and had to be disconnected.
Judge Michael Stokes, QC also ordered Underwood to pay costs of £3,000 to HSE and £1,566.64 to Nottinghamshire County Council.
Noelle Walker, HSE Inspector, said: “We need home owners and landlords to ensure their gas appliances are maintained to a safe standard and checked annually, with copies of the gas safety certificate being provided.
“We will not hesitate to take enforcement action against anyone who puts people at risk by failing to comply with the law.”
The HSE also recommends that landlords should always ask to see the ID cards all Gas Safe Registered engineers carry and which list the areas they are competent to work in.
News feed courtesy of Residential Landlord