A buy to let landlord in Stockton-on-Tees, has been sentenced after illegally uncapping and reconnecting a gas supply.

Teeside Magistrates’ Court heard that David Wallman uncapped and reconnected the supply which had been assessed by gas supplier Northern Gas Networks as “immediately dangerous.”

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into the incident from September 2014 found Wallman – who had been a gas fitter registered with CORGI until 2001 – had set out to fix a problem with the supply in the property but his repair was inadequate and he left the installation in a dangerous state.

Wallman pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and was given a 26 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months. 

He was also sentenced to 200 hours unpaid community work and ordered to pay costs of £739.