Heating and Ventilating

A housing association and the plumber it employed, are awaiting sentencing, after both pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches, following a boiler explosion that killed a woman and her dog.
Sixty-five year old Christine Goodall, died in 2007 when the boiler behind her fireplace exploded, because it had not been properly decommissioned.

The Tewkesbury resident was killed in the blast along with her 15 year-old dog Kelly, after residual water in the boiler heated up when she lit a fire.

The iron boiler in her home was decommissioned by plumber Matthew Lee in 1999, on the instructions of the housing association Severn Vale Housing Society.

Matthew Lee and Severn Vale, both pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, following a prosecution brought by the Heath and Safety Executive (HSE).

Gloucester magistrates heard the Tewkesbury-based housing association was culpable because it failed to ensure Mrs Goodall's safety. The case has been committed to the crown court for sentencing which is scheduled to take place on October 8.

It is not known how many private homes, landlords' properties or housing association homes still have poorly decommissioned boilers, the HSE said.