Handyman guilty of boiler deaths

The deaths prompted police to issue a safety warning

An unqualified handyman who installed a faulty boiler has admitted killing a woman and her two young grandsons.

Atalokhia Omo-Bare, 50, failed to fit an extractor pipe to the appliance at the east London home in April 2006.

Days later, Roselyn Idugboe, 66, and the two brothers, aged three and 19 months, were found dead, a court heard.

Omo-Bare, of Hackney, east London, pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey. He was told to expect a prison sentence.

He also admitted unlawfully wounding two others in the house, including the children's mother, and health and safety violations.

Following the deaths police had warned anyone who had appliances fitted by Omo-Bare to turn off their gas supply and contact engineers.

The public should be aware they shouldn't get boilers fitted on the cheap Det Sgt Shaun Plunkett

Nigel Lithman QC, defending, said Omo-Bare was a close friend of the Idugboe family.

"They were happy for him to install a boiler," he said.

Mr Lithman said that during the installation of the boiler, his client had omitted to fit the extractor pipe and told the family not to use it.

But the family, according to Mr Lithman, insisted on using the appliance to heat water, and this was what led to the tragedy.

'Tragic case'

Judge Richard Hawkins bailed Omo-Bare, originally from Nigeria, for sentencing on 15 March but warned him to expect a prison term.

A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Idugboe and brothers Jeriel and Jaden Okenchukwu Onwegbu-Aguocha died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Their mother Felicia Idugboe and nanny Teminiola Arogundade suffered considerable brain damage from the fumes.

Det Sgt Shaun Plunkett, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "It is a tragic case where we wouldn't want people who aren't qualified doing work like that.

"The public should be aware they shouldn't get boilers fitted on the cheap.

"They are putting their own lives and the lives of their families and friends at risk if they do."