20/05/2009 - Plumber jailed over gas offences
A self-employed plumber has been jailed for putting lives at risk by doing unlicensed gas-fitting work after being instructed not to by a health and safety prohibition order.
Thomas Dalton, 39, of Harrogate, was sentenced to 12 months at a York Crown Court hearing in Leeds after he admitted breaching a prohibition notice issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The court heard that in 2005 he had been jailed for three months for carrying out gas fitting work in Harrogate despite the prohibition order.
But in January 2007, he again broke the order by installing a gas boiler in Harrogate in such a way that the flue and pipework put the householders' lives at risk, as carbon monoxide could have leaked into the property.
Said Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Kate Dixon: "Thomas Dalton has repeatedly put lives at risk by carrying out gas work without the proper accreditation or training, and whilst being prohibited from such work.
"The HSE wants to advise anyone who has had gas work carried out by this man since 2005, that they should arrange for a Gas Safe registered installer to check his work to make sure its safe."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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