£19,000 fine after mother and daughter poisoned by carbon monoxide

Date:

24 March 2010

Release No:

COISE/24-03

Two landlords and a gas service engineer have been fined a total of £19,000 today after risking the lives of a mother and her six-year-old daughter.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution at Southampton Magistrates Court today (24 March) after Motoko Riley and her six-year-old daughter Emily were severely affected by carbon monoxide.

Landlords of the property, brothers Robert and David Watts, both of Woodlands, Southampton, were repeatedly warned that the boiler needed servicing over a period of almost four years and failed to act.

Each man pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Robert Watts was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,500. David Watts was also fined £7,000 and he too was ordered to pay costs of £4,500.

David MacDonald of Hythe, Southampton, was the property's gas service engineer, and declared the boiler safe to use three times when it was not. He pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching regulations 5(3) and 6(2) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 on dates between 6 April 2005 and 3 December 2007. He was £4,500 for the first three offences [breaching regulation 5 (3)] and he was also fined £500 for breaching regulation 6 (2) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Mr MacDonald was ordered to pay costs of £548.

On 2 December 2007, Mrs Riley and her daughter Emily were at their home in Portswood Road, Southampton. Emily became ill and began to drift in and out of consciousness and Mrs Riley started to suffer bad headaches and began vomiting. Both were taken from the house in a barely conscious state and then taken to hospital by a neighbour suffering from severe carbon monoxide poisoning.

When HSE investigated the level of carbon monoxide produced by the central heating boiler in the family's home, it was so high it was off the scale of the measuring equipment used by inspectors.

HSE inspector Ray Kelly said:

"A mother and daughter were put at significant risk over a period of almost three years because of the actions of two landlords and their gas service engineer. The dangers associated with carbon monoxide exposure are well known. The Landlords knew there were problems with ventilation at the property and failed to service the central heating boiler appropriately.

"This case shows that it is vitally important for landlords to understand and act upon their responsibilities around gas safety. It is only by sheer good fortune that this incident did not happen at night, or the consequences could have been far worse."

HSE will prosecute landlords, gas companies and gas engineers that place lives at risk through their lack of diligence.

Notes to editors

1. Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.
2. Regulations 6(2) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states: No person carrying out work in relation to a gas fitting shall leave the fitting unattended unless every incomplete gasway has been sealed with the appropriate fitting or the gas fitting is otherwise safe.
3. Regulation 5(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states: No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel otherwise than in accordance with appropriate standards and in such a way as to prevent danger to any person.
4. Homeowners and tenants can visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/index.htm for more information about gas safety.
5. Landlords can visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg285.pdf for more information about their responsibilities around gas safety.
6. Between May 2004 and April 2007 Robert and David Watts were repeatedly informed through the landlord's gas safety certificate (LGSC) that the boiler in the property needed servicing and that there were problems with the ventilation.
7. David MacDonald was the gas safety engineer who performed the annual gas safety checks on the boiler in April 2005, 2006 and 2007. On each occasion Mr MacDonald found that the boiler was without ventilation and was therefore required to turn off the appliance and place an 'At Risk' notice on it until it is fixed. He failed to do this and declared the boiler 'safe to use'.

Press enquiries

Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.

Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR London and South East