Suspended sentence for illegal gas fitter in County Down

July 1, 2024

An illegal gas fitter from County Down has been given a suspended prison sentence for carrying out gas work despite being banned from doing so.

Newtownards Magistrates’ Court heard that Ian Campbell, trading as MGB Gas and Building Services, replaced a gas boiler at a property in Bangor, County Down, in November 2022, even though he was unregistered. The installation was subsequently classified as At Risk, meaning it posed a threat to life or property.

The HSENI investigation also found that Campbell had been working illegally on gas despite being banned from doing so by HSENI in February 2023.

He was charged with one breach of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 and two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. For each breach he was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for three years.

Campbell was ordered to pay £1,750 compensation to a Bangor homeowner and given an additional month’s sentence, suspended for three years, for two health and safety offenses he was charged with at a previous court hearing on April 12, 2022. The previous offenses also included dangerous driving. gassing work.

HSENI inspector Kiara Blackburn said: “Ian Campbell undertook gas work which he was not registered to carry out.”