A Devon gas fitter has been prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) for carrying out unsafe work on boilers and illegally issuing landlord gas safety check records in Torbay, while claiming to be registered.
Steven Nurse from Brixham was found to have produced 10 gas safety certificates using the name and Gas Safe Register and Corgi identification numbers belonging to a legitimate registered gas engineer.
Exeter Crown Court heard that Mr Nurse had also installed two boilers, signed-off work on another two and had serviced gas boilers, all while falsely claiming to be a member of the Register and its predecessor, Corgi.
The HSE began investigations after Gas Safe Register received complaints about Mr Nurse's work. He was found to have installed a gas boiler to undersized pipework and failed to seal the boiler flue correctly, endangering the lives of people at the domestic property in Brixham with escaping poisonous gas fumes.
Mr Nurse pleaded guilty to breaching 26(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and was given a two month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He also pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was fined a total of £2,000 and ordered to pay £500 in costs. In addition, he was ordered to pay total of £1,000 compensation to property owners.
