A man from Willenhall in the West Midlands has pleaded guilty to breaching Gas Safety Regulations and sentenced to 80 hours of unpaid work for carrying out illegal and dangerous maintenance on gas boilers at two properties in Stourbridge.
The work Paul Creswell carried out at a flat in Hanbury Court was of such poor quality that it meant there was a realistic and probable chance of carbon monoxide entering the property because he had failed to fix the flue to the boiler correctly.

He also carried out sub-standard work at a house in Vale Street, where the wiring he installed was so dangerous it had the potential for pipes to become live.

On 15 January Dudley Magistrates' Court heard that his failings came to light following an investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) after one of the residents complained to Gas Safe Register. The investigation found Mr Cresswell was not registered with Gas Safe and obtained work by providing the managing agents of the properties he worked on with out of date registration documents. He also continued to display Gas Safe signage on his van, falsely indicating he was authorised to work on gas appliances.

He had been registered between 7 July 2011 and 6 July 2012 but allowed his registration to lapse.

Mr Cresswell pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 3(3), 3(7), 26(1) and 27(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 in December 2012 and January 2013. In addition to the 80 hours of unpaid work he was told to pay costs of £1,270.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Karl Raw said: 'Mr Creswell knew he was not registered with Gas Safe and that he should not have been carrying out the work. He deliberately misled the property agents who employed him and put the tenants - a young family and a pensioner - at risk of serious injury or even death.'