Heating engineer sentenced following carbon monoxide death

A heating engineer, found guilty of three safety offences but not guilty of manslaughter after a woman died from gas poisoning in her home in December 2012, has been sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work.
Annette Coe, 72, collapsed at her home in St Edmunds Road, Ipswich and died in hospital from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Peter Sykes, 68, of Castle Road, Hadleigh, who had carried out work for Mrs Coe was cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence earlier this month.
Speaking after the hearing, Det Insp Trevor Prior said: “We conducted a meticulous investigation with the Health and Safety Executive following the tragic death of Mrs Coe.
“This established that her death was due to deadly carbon monoxide, which was allowed to build up in her home, as a direct result of Sykes’ failure to maintain her heating system.”
HSE principal inspector Vicky Fletcher said: “Mr Sykes showed a clear disregard for the law when he carried on servicing gas appliances despite not being registered since 2003.
“Working on gas appliances is difficult, specialised and potentially very dangerous.
“It is therefore vital that only registered gas engineers, who are trained and competent, work on gas appliances and fittings.”
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Heating engineer sentenced following carbon monoxide death
A heating engineer, found guilty of three safety offences but not guilty of manslaughter after a woman died from gas poisoning in her home in December 2012, has been sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work.
Safety & Health Practitioner
SHP - Health and Safety News, Legislation, PPE, CPD and Resources
This type of event will continue until a real deterrent is in place. “Unpaid work” is a cop-out and a soft option. People who kill through ignoring the law (especially for 11 years) should be sent to prison.