Rogue gas fitter gets suspended sentence after carrying out unsafe work
A rogue gas fitter who falsely claimed to be Gas Safe registered before carrying out unsafe work has received a suspended prison sentence.
Nicholas Marks, who traded as Topmarks Plumbers UK Ltd, pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading and to dishonestly making a false representation that his company was Gas Safe registered.
Dudley Magistrates Court heard how he had carried out unsafe work at two addresses, which should only have been done by a registered engineer.
The court heard Marks had since changed careers and no longer worked as a plumber or gas fitter.
The court sentenced Marks, of Walsall Road, in Lichfield, to 16 weeks in prison suspended for one year. He was ordered to be electronically tagged and placed on a curfew for 16 weeks between 8pm and 6am daily.
Marks was also ordered to pay costs of £2,494.61 and a victim surcharge of £115.
He was prosecuted by Dudley Council's trading standards.
Councillor Nicolas Barlow, the authority's cabinet member responsible for trading standards, said: "It is important consumers are not misled by traders as they will use this information to make decisions about who to employ and quite rightly expect what’s claimed to be true.
"Carrying out gas safety work when you are not registered as competent to do so is extremely serious and this could have endangered the lives of customers.
"We would always prefer to work with businesses to advise and assist them to comply with the law but when their actions are reckless and put safety at risk, we will not hesitate to take action to protect consumers."
