Landlord’s neglect endangers family’s life

A landlord has received a suspended prison sentence after a family suffered carbon-monoxide poisoning at a flat in Lewisham, South London.
Gail Calvert, her partner Stephen Clayden, and her eight-year-old daughter inhaled large quantities of the potentially lethal gas inside the ground-floor flat they rented in Iona Close, Catford.

On the evening of 10 November 2011, they were woken by a carbon-monoxide alarm, which sounded in the flat above. They were taken to hospital, where they stayed overnight for treatment. The spread of the carbon monoxide led the fire brigade to evacuate the building and the gas supply was disconnected.

The HSE’s investigation identified the source of the leak was a faulty gas boiler inside the ground floor flat. Landlord David MacDonald had failed to ensure gas safety checks were carried out at the property for more than two years.

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