False gas fitters sent to prison

Two brothers involved in selling and fitting fireplaces and falsely claiming to be registered engineers have been sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Lee McHugh, 34, ran a shop in Shrewsbury where he passed installation work on to his brother, Stephen, 36.

Both men, from Merseyside, admitted ten charges of breaching gas safety regulations at an earlier hearing.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokesman said they had put people at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Lindsay Hope of the HSE said the ten specific instances brought to Shrewsbury Crown Court involved installations in Shropshire, but were not isolated cases.

'Check installations'

"The malpractice was ongoing over a very long period," he said.

"HSE had served prohibition notices on both brothers but they continued to flout safety legislation.

"Stephen McHugh was carrying out gas work knowing he was not registered with Corgi.

"He chose to ignore this and continued to carry out gas work, putting the public at risk from both carbon monoxide poisoning and gas explosion."

Anyone who thinks they may have had a gas appliance installed by Stephen McHugh or purchased from Lee McHugh's shop, Embers Fires, should have the installation checked, he said.

Stephen McHugh's lives in Pensby, the Wirral, and Lee McHugh at Higher Bebbington, the Wirral, Merseyside.

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