Landlord showed ‘contempt’ of gas safety law

A Plymouth landlord has been given a suspended prison sentence after he failed to maintain the gas appliances and did not arrange for gas safety checks to be carried out at his rental property.

Plymouth Crown Court heard that, in August 2018, a concern was raised with the HSE by a former tenant at Canterbury Drive, Plymouth, that no landlord’s gas safety checks had been carried out for three years. HSE made numerous attempts to contact the landlord, Thomas Brumby, but received no reply or representations.

An Improvement Notice was served on Mr Brumby, requiring him to arrange for the gas appliances at his tenanted property to be checked and maintained. Mr Brumby ignored the Improvement Notice.

Thomas Brumby of Canterbury Drive, Plymouth, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 36(3)(a) and 36(2)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 as amended. He was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison for each offence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay costs of £1,500.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “Thomas Brumby put the residents and other members of the public at risk of harm by failing to maintain gas appliances in a domestic property. He showed contempt of the law surrounding gas safety at a tenanted property.”