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Stourbridge builder fined for illegal gas work

A builder from Stourbridge carried out gas work at four houses in Worcester despite not being Gas Safe registered.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted James Raybould, who trades as Jim Raybould Electrical, Plumbing and Building Services, following the incidents between September 2009 and 15 July 2010.

The Gas Safe Register is the official compulsory registration scheme for gas engineers in Britain and it is illegal to carry out domestic gas work without registration.

Worcester Magistrates’ Court heard the offences were discovered when James Raybould failed to fix a leak in a gas boiler he had earlier fitted.

His client contacted a registered gas engineer who told her the work was substandard. She then alerted the Gas Safe Register, who checked the four properties where the gas work had been carried out and they found two of the fires Mr Raybould had fitted were immediately dangerous.

The court also heard a family at one of the houses had suffered from headaches, which they suspected had been caused by the gas fire.

Mr Raybould, of Lady Greys Walk, Stourbridge, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was fined £1,330 and ordered to pay £1,170 costs.

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