Suspended sentence, curfew, tags and costs for ignoring gas safety

A landlord has received a suspended six month prison sentence after he ignored repeated warnings about arranging an annual gas safety check at a house.

The sentence was suspended for 12 months during which he will be electronically tagged and will have to abide by a curfew between 7pm and 7am for the first three months.

Tariq Ali was given numerous opportunities by the Health and Safety Executive to arrange an inspection for a property he owned on Accrington after the previous gas safety record expired in October 2012.

Landlords are required by law to have gas appliances checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer at least once a year, but Ali failed to do this.

Ali was found guilty following a trial at Trafford Magistrates’ Court of single breaches of Regulation 36(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1)(g) the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The charges relate to failing to have the gas appliances checked annually, and failing to comply with an improvement notice.

Ali will also have to pay £20,000 towards HSE costs.

The court heard Ali first came to the attention of the Gas Safe Register – the official body for gas engineers – in 2011 after gas appliances at several of his properties were classified as being ‘at risk’ or ‘immediately dangerous’.

The HSE says on average over eight people are killed and nearly 330 people are reported injured every year by carbon monoxide poisoning from gas appliances and by fires and explosions caused by faulty gas installations, so it is vital that agents landlords take the risks seriously.