An unregistered gas fitter was fined and given a suspended prison sentence on 20 March, for illegally carrying out gas safety work at a rented house in Plymouth.

Peter Knight undertook landlords’ gas safety checks at the property above a pub on Marlborough Street and extended a gas supply pipe to feed the pub’s kitchen, despite having no expertise in gaswork or being registered with Gas Safe Register.


Mr Knight convinced the landlord he was registered to do the work by using a properly registered gas engineer’s company name and Gas Safe Register registration number on the gas safety records he produced.


Plymouth Crown Court heard Mr Knight’s illegal gaswork came to light when the tenant of the flat above the pub smelt gas in his flat and confronted Mr Knight about the work he had done. The tenant contacted Gas Safe Register because of his concerns about the workmanship.


Peter Knight of Cornwall Street, Plymouth pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and to ordered to pay £2,000 costs.


HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “Only engineers registered with Gas Safe can legally carry out gas work and it is fortunate no-one was harmed as a result of Mr Knight’s illegal gaswork.


“He compounded his illegal work by deceptively using false Gas Safe Register details on his paperwork and then lied to the landlords and tenant when he was challenged about this in a clear attempt to deceive them.”.


“The landlords relied on the honesty of Mr Knight but by deceiving them he put the lives of their tenants at risk for his own financial gain.”


Further information on domestic gas safety issues can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/