A landlord in Cambridge has received a suspended jail sentence after forging a gas safety certificate.
Emran Hussain failed to ensure that gas appliances were safe to use, then used a forged gas safety certificate to pretend that the appliances had all been checked.
Cambridge Magistrates’ Court heard that Hussain was ordered to produce a valid Landlord's Gas Safety Record for the property in October 2009, which he failed to do.
The Health & Safety Executive was notified, and served an Improvement Notice which he also failed to adhere to, causing him to be summoned to appear in court earlier this year.
Hussain then produced the certificate on the day of the hearing, but HSE checks showed that the certificate had been forged, as the certificate was dated to coincide with the HSE Improvement Notice, but came from a pad which wasn't printed until August 2011.
Hussain pleaded guilty to two charges under Section 33(1) of the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974. He was sentenced to spend a total of two months in jail for each offence, with the sentences to run concurrently but suspended for 12 months.
He is also required to wear an electronic tag for two months and was ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £4,768.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Roxanne Barker said: "Every year, around 20 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by improperly installed or maintained gas appliances. Many others suffer ill health. There were four tenants at the property for which Mr Hussain was responsible, all of whom were put at unnecessary risk.
“Mr Husain then attempted to deceive HSE and the Court by producing a document which he knew to be false. It is important that landlords fulfil their legal gas safety obligations to their tenants by ensuring that an annual gas safety check is carried out by a suitably qualified Gas Safe registered engineer, and that tenants are provided with a copy of these checks.”
More information on landlords' responsibilities in relation to gas safety can be found online at www.hse.gov.uk/gas/landlords.
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