A landlord in Harrow has been handed a suspended jail sentence and fined £10,000 for putting his tenants’ lives in danger by carrying out illegal gas work at flats he rented out.

Vispasp Sarkari rented out five flats in a block on London Road in Wembley. Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) he was charged with a serious safety breach.

On 27 January, Southwark Crown Court heard that Mr Sakari had been caught ‘red-handed’ on 13 August 2013 carrying out work on a boiler by a visiting National Grid engineer. This was after a complaint that the landlord was working on gas fittings in a flat that was home to a family with children.

The HSE found evidence that Mr Sarkari had carried out illegal gas work at the block of flats on a number of occasions, despite the fact he was not Gas Safe registered. On the day of the visit by the National Grid, Mr Sarkari was working with another person and there was no evidence that he was registered with Gas Safe either.

Mr Sarkari was sentenced to 12 months’ prison, suspended for two years; 150 hours’ unpaid community work; fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £9,978 in costs after admitting breaching the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations.