A businessman has been sentenced after carrying out illegal gas safety checks at tenanted properties while not registered as a gas engineer.

Sven Biesterfeldt, aged 41, who has previously lived in Carnkie, near Redruth and then in Breage, near Helston, pleaded guilty to two breaches of gas safety legislation.

He was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for one year and ordered to undertake 180 hours unpaid community work.

In addition, he was disqualified from being a company director for three years and ordered to pay £4,000 in costs.

Bodmin Magistrates Court heard Mr Biesterfeldt, who uses a number of other names including Tom Williams, potentially put tenant's lives at risk by carrying out safety checks at the property in Troon, near Camborne in May 2014.

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In addition, he fraudulently filled out the landlord's gas safety document using another companies Gas Safe Register number.

Mr Biesterfeldt also used the Gas Safe Register logo on his work vehicle and also told the landlord he was a member of the Gas Safe Register.

The landlord became suspicious when he checked on the Gas Safe Register number that Mr Biesterfeldt had used on the safety certificate that he produced and discovered that it was for a company in Essex.

HSE Inspector Simon Jones said: "Mr Biesterfeldt should never have carried out gas safety checks and compounded this by fraudulently using the Gas Safe Register logo on his work vehicle and by using a properly Gas Safe registered companies details on safety documents he produced. This was a calculated and deliberate attempt to deceive the public into believing he was competent and registered to undertake gaswork and this could not be further from the truth.

"Mr Biesterfeldt put the lives of tenants at risk as he has no training or skills when it comes to gas safety and essential gas safety checks. Such checks are vital to protect tenants from death or injury caused by potentially dangerous gas appliances."

(LM)