Unregistered gas boiler engineer sentenced

A man who falsely claimed he was qualified to fit gas boilers has been given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay compensation.

Christian Godwin, 29, of Newport Close, Newbury, claimed he was gas safe registered, but left one couple suffering with dizziness, while another customer received an electric shock.

He was given a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay £20,244 in compensation to his victims.

Tom McCann, chairman of the joint public protection committee for Bracknell Forest and West Berkshire councils, called his actions a "serious and calculated course of deception" with potentially "catastrophic" consequences.

Godwin was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, disqualified from acting as a company director, and required to undertake 20 rehabilitation days.

He was prosecuted at Reading Crown Court for offences contrary to the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, with five offences of a trader engaging in unfair commercial practice, and one of a trader knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice.

He previously pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates' Court in January.

Godwin carried out gas and plumbing work for the victims, including the installation of boilers, for which they paid sums ranging from £2,000 to £4,000.

The councils' trading standards service said one man was left without heating over the Christmas period after his newly installed boiler was deemed dangerous and unusable by a gas-safe registered engineer.

A second man explained that he and his wife suffered nausea, dizziness and headaches immediately following installation, leading to an engineer disconnecting the gas supply and advising that the boiler not be used.

A third victim received an electric shock because of a leak from the hot water tank, trading standards said.

Water also came through the ceiling into the living room, causing a large hole and damage to the walls.