A Derbyshire plumber has been sentenced to two months in prison after putting his customers' lives at risk.

Steven Colson, previously known as Steven Barkway and trading as SBC Bathrooms, was employed by Neil and Nazia Tingay to refurbish the bathroom at their home in Ashover, Chesterfield, in July 2010.

Part of the work involved decommissioning, moving and recommissioning the boiler but although Mr Colson told the couple he could do the job he was not qualified to do so and was not registered with Gas Safe.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought today's prosecution, told Derby Crown Court that he initially moved the boiler to the wrong place so had to move it for a second time.


Mr and Mrs Tingay became suspicious of Mr Colson's work and asked British Gas to give the boiler its annual service. The engineer found six defects – three of which were classed as immediately dangerous and three of which were classed as at risk or not to current standards. Mr Colson then admitted he was not qualified to carry out the work.

The court heard that Mr Colson had connected the boiler to the wrong type of flue and had failed to fit an inner flue, which is needed to disperse fumes. He had also terminated the flue at a louvered self-closing vent extractor, making it impossible for flue products to exit and combustion air to enter simultaneously, which could have led to a build-up of potentially lethal carbon monoxide fumes.

British Gas condemned the boiler immediately and notified HSE, which issued a Prohibition Notice preventing Mr Colson from carrying out any more gas fitting work until he was qualified to do so.

Steven Colson, 46, of New Street, Bolsover, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 3(1), 3(3), 26(1), 27(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,000.

(CD/JP)