A builder from Hyde who illegally carried out gas work at two homes in the town has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Monwar Ali appeared in court on 13 June after putting the lives of two families at risk. An investigation found he had left a boiler at one house in a condition classified as immediately dangerous.
A total of eight defects were also found with another boiler he installed. Both installations left the families living in the houses, which included young children, at risk of suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Mr Ali had been paid £21,000 to carry out a loft conversion at a house on Norbury Avenue in 2011.
As part of this work he removed the flue pipe connected to the boiler, despite not being qualified or registered to do this. He failed to replace the pipe for nearly two months, which meant fumes spilled back into the house.
When a gas engineer visited the property to carry out a routine annual check of the boiler in August 2011, he classified it as being immediately dangerous due to a high carbon monoxide reading and an incorrect flue pipe being used. The homeowners had to get the boiler relocated downstairs with new pipework at an additional cost to them of nearly £500.
The HSE investigation found Mr Ali had also built a two-floor extension to a house on Harbour Farm Road during the same year. The written quote he provided for the work included the Gas Safe Register logo, wrongly giving the customer the impression he was able to carry out gas work.
Mr Ali was paid nearly £50,000 and moved the gas boiler on two occasions – first from the outhouse into the existing kitchen and then into the new kitchen in the extension. He also attempted to carry out repairs to the boiler in July 2011 when it broke down.
He received a community order requiring him to carry out 220 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months after pleading guilty to six breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 between 28 December 2010 and 31 August 2011. He was also ordered to pay £2,000 towards prosecution costs.