Fitter is jailed over gas death Scott Lee Stuart Stuart had admitted manslaughter at an earlier hearing A fitter has been jailed for the manslaughter of a girl of 14 who died after he incorrectly installed a flueless gas fire in her home. Scott Lee Stuart, 38, from Newport, south Wales, carried out the work at Alex Mitchell's family home in Cwmbran. Two days later the teenager and the family's terrier were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning. Stuart, who was sentenced to two years at Cardiff Crown Court, admitted manslaughter at a hearing last month. At that hearing Stuart also admitted two charges contrary to health and safety regulations. The court heard then how Stuart, who ran Stuart Plumbing and Heating Services, failed to check that the gas pressure on the appliance was set at the correct level, which led to a leak. Alex Mitchell Alex's mother found her dead on her return from work He was registered to fit central heating boilers but not have the relevant training to fit flueless gas fires, the court heard. On the day Alex died, she had been at home alone with the family pet dog. When her mother Ann returned home from work she found the terrier dead in the hall. She then ran upstairs where she found her daughter's body in her bedroom. Despite efforts by neighbours, Alex could not be revived. At the time a family spokesman paid tribute to the teenager saying "Alex was a wonderful, most beautiful and talented daughter and granddaughter.
Is there a separate ACS for flueless gas fires now? i have HTR 1 ,but cant remember covering flueless fires,how are they supposed to work,and how come this one failed? after all,it cant be that he cocked the flue up can it?
hi, he only had boilers, not htr1 the gas pressure was too low i think, and also did he fit the all important air vent 100cm2
Pressure was too high we understand. Why the safety devices failed is another story, don't think we have heard the last of this. The model is on sale in thousands of DIY outlets across the country, That is worrying
if the pressure was to high, firsty the catalyic converter probably could not cope with the extra carbon monoxide generated by the extra pressure?, also the oxy pilot should lift away from therocouple, but if the pressure was too high the pilot would be so powerfull that when the flame lifted it still heated up the thermocouple, thus fire stayed on.
A very sad story...... We were discussing this accident at college, it really underlines the responsibility of Gas engineers, not to mention what can happen if you touch things you're not trained in. It made a few people look worried in our Level 3 class.
According to this report, the judge made some very telling comments. The installer was not incompetent, but negligent (nothing to do with working out of competence - the HSE's account is very misleading).The appliance was faulty, yet the manufacturer was not prosecuted. Why? http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=gas-fitter-jailed-after-fumes-kill-girl&method=full&objectid=17885490&siteid=50082-name_page.html#storycontinue
Just in case the above link doesn't work, here is what the report said. "The judge, Mr Justice Roderick Evans, said: “Your lack of registration did not mean you were incompetent and, in particular, incompetent to fit this gas fire, because you fitted it competently. But you negligently failed to check the gas pressure. “You didn’t cause the fault, you failed to find it.”
surely if the pressure was too high, he would of picked this up on tightness testing, so did he test it for leaks ???????
yes, but what i mean, if the incomming pressure was lets say 45mbar, there no way the burner pressure on fire going to be normal, the fire will not be able to cope with it, if they had a old govenor which was faulty
NO... The inlet pressure is correct... It seems the governor on the gas valve was faulty, and supplying to high a burner pressure... thus resulting in overgassing/incomplete combustion, and too many fumes for the cat converter to deal with
okay fair point don,t like flueleas fire anyway, its not natural goes against everything we are taught, go for room sealed far safer.
A very very tragic incident indeed. Serves to remind us all that we can never ever be complacent, and further, we should be doubly sure of everything that we do. The family must be rightly distraught. Extending our deepest sympathy to the bereaved and then challenging ourselves for the future is unfortunately the best we can do. I do feel so sorry for the fitter also. 'There but for the grace of god' so to speak. I defy any of us to admit that we get it right all the time. Unfortunately if you are in the gas business then you don't get a second chance.
okay fair point don,t like flueleas fire anyway, its not natural goes against everything we are taught, go for room sealed far safer. I would assume that you also dislike the majority of gas hobs, and cookers, and also gas point of use water heaters. Tightenit, in my opinion has the right idea. I have no understanding of flueless fires, but would have thought that they would have had vitiated air sensing devices, or at least a carbon monoxide alarm. Scott leaves a young wife and a two year old daughter, and also has to live with the fact of ending the life of a 14 year old child. Due to the fact that he held ccn1 and cen1, I would have to assume that he was well aware of ventilation requirements. Very sad for all parties concerned, more so for the family that has lost a child.
The fire had all the safety features, non worked as they should. Also from what I understand, the fire is factory set and not adjustable. Several thousand of the earlier model were the subject of a safety re-call, how many are still fitted by DIYers that know nothing about that, when no-one has told the trade either. Corgy or the HSE refuse to discuss it
my corgi inspector (who did an inspection with me today) conveniently "know nothing about this incident!
With all these fires fitted out there unfortunately only a matter of time before this sort of incident happens again.
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