Suspended sentence for barber shop owner after gas explosion

The owner of a Birmingham barber shop has been given suspended sentence after a large gas explosion forced the shop window to fall out onto a busy high street.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that the shop was open for business when the explosion took place on 16 June 2022. Birmingham City Council environmental health officers, prosecuting, said there was significant damage to the fixtures and fittings and a large front window blew out into Holyhead Road, narrowly missing a pedestrian.

West Midlands Fire Service also found that a single-storey brick wall at the rear of the building collapsed because of the explosion, scattering bricks into a passageway used regularly by children of neighbouring residents.

The tenants of the flat above the barber’s shop were in their home and fortunately sustained no injuries. However, Mr Kadar suffered minor burns to his arm. Structural engineers from the council’s dangerous structures team arranged for contractors to make the building safe.

Investigations revealed that new gas pipes had been fitted to older pipes. Two open ends to the new pipework and tools suggested that it had been extended recently. They also found equipment suggesting that a catering business was operating from the premises or that there were plans to install one.

Birmingham’s environmental health officers found that the barber shop had been let to Mr Kadar originally without a gas supply but the meter serving the tenants was located inside his barber shop business. The council said the newly installed fixtures and fittings had been removed shortly after the explosion. A principal gas incident investigation engineer gave expert opinion that the cause of the explosion was gas escaping from the open ends of the newly installed pipework.

Installation of gas pipework installation should be subject to a Building Regulation Application but no application had been submitted for this work. Mr Kadar had not notified the managing agents or the landlords about the gas work. He did not provide details of the person responsible for extending the gas pipework.

The court heard that the time and effort involved in removing the catering equipment and illegal pipework suggested a deliberate effort to undermine any investigation. These were considered as aggravating features at the sentencing hearing.

Hiwa Kadar, trading as Mardin Barbers on Holyhead Road, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months. The court also ordered him to attend rehabilitation activities and to provide details of his finances in order to pay towards the prosecution costs.

He has since vacated the business property and is no longer the owner of the business trading from that address.

Councillor Sam Forsyth, chair of the licensing and public protection committee, said: “I am thankful that no one was seriously injured but this frightening incident could easily have been avoided by appointing a Gas Safe registered engineer. This council will take swift enforcement action against those who fall below the required standard.”