Judges gavel

Struck-off engineer continued to work on gas

A Coventry gas engineer who had been struck off the Register has been given a suspended jail sentence after he continued to work on gas.

Coventry Magistrates’ Court heard that 71-year-old Harcharan Singh Sembi continued to carry out unsafe work on gas appliances despite having been struck off the Gas Safe Register and prohibited by the HSE from doing further gas work

The HSE, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Sembi was removed from the Gas Safe Register for failing to meet competency standards, and had been given a Prohibition Notice by the HSE. Despite this, he continued to carry out unsafe work on gas appliances.

Harcharan Singh Sembi, of William Groubb Close, Coventry, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) 1998 Regulations. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.

Mr Sembi also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, for which he was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years. He was ordered to undertake 40 hours of unpaid work.

In his sentencing remarks, HHJ Potter said Mr Sembi’s offences were so serious that he would have imposed an immediate custodial sentence if the defendant’s personal circumstances had been different. The judge took into consideration his age and the circumstances around the support available to his elderly wife, concluding that a suspended sentence was proportionate.

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