Landlord fined £12,000 for illegal gas checks

A landlord from Torquay illegally carried out annual gas safety checks at his properties despite not being a registered gas engineer, a court has heard.

Raymond Williams potentially put his tenants' lives at risk by carrying out the statutory safety checks himself between April 2013 and October 2014. He also fraudulently filled out landlord's gas safety documents using a fake Gas Safe Register number.

The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted Williams after his work was investigated following a complaint from one of his tenants.

Torquay magistrates' court heard that Williams carried out his own safety checks at five properties in Torquay and one in Newton Abbott. The checks should only have been carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer.

Williams, from Torquay, pleaded guilty to four breaches of gas safety legislation and was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £418 in costs.

Russell Krmer, chief executive at Gas Safe Register, says landlords have a responsibility to make sure their tenants are safe when it comes to gas. In addition, tenants have a right to make sure their landlord gets all their gas appliances safety checked by a registered gas engineer every year he says.