Aug42017

Ilfracombe landlord endangered tenants with illegal gaswork

HSE

The landlord of a property in Ilfracombe has been given a suspended sentence for risking the lives of his tenants by undertaking dangerous gas work.

Exeter Crown Court heard that in September 2016 Allan King replaced a boiler at his rented property on Arcade Road despite have no training in gas work and not being registered with Gas Safe Register. The boiler developed faults and a month later King called in a gas engineer for help.

The engineer immediately recognised the boiler was risking the tenants’ lives and isolated it to make it safe. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was informed and launched an investigation.

The HSE had previously warned King in July 2016 that only a member of Gas Safe Register should work on gas appliances.

Allan King of Arcade Road, Ilfracombe pleaded guilty to breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for 18 months and fined £3,000. He was also ordered to pay costs of £12,184.14.

HSE Inspector, Simon Jones, speaking after the hearing, said:

“Landlords have a legal duty to ensure that any gas work at their rented properties is only undertaken by a member of Gas Safe Register.

“In this case, Mr King ignored previous warnings and undertook his own DIY gas work for which he had neither the competence nor credentials.”

”His actions were dangerous and put his tenants’ lives at risk’

Further information about landlords’ responsibilities for gas supply can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/landlords/index.htm

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

 

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
  1. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
  1. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

Aug42017

Murder suspect undergoes plastic surgery to evade police

East Asia

A murder suspect has been caught in northern China after having plastic surgery to evade police.

The suspect, surnamed Zhang, is suspected of killing five people 17 years ago following a debt dispute, police of Weichang county in Hebei Province said Friday.

Last month, Weichang police received information about Zhang’s presence in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.

Zhang was using the identity of a man surnamed Yu, despite the annulment of Yu’s household registration, police said

Zhang was later caught in his home with the help of Heilongjiang police.

Police found scars on Zhang’s face that indicated that he had gone through plastic surgery.

Zhang confessed that he killed five residents in his village and severely injured another in January 2000.

The investigation is ongoing.

Aug42017

Labour’s Brexit position puts Scottish jobs at risk.

SNP

Theresa May has a vision for Brexit – and it’s being driven by the hard right of the Conservative Party. The mantra of “no deal is better than a bad deal” is still the guiding principle of their Brexit strategy, despite the obvious calamitous consequences for the whole of the UK. 

Aug42017

We honour Keir Hardie by keeping alive his ideas and promoting his work

Scottish Labour

In August 1892 – 125 years ago today – Keir Hardie took his seat in the UK Parliament.

 

The MP for West Ham South had defeated the Conservatives in an election and would now be sitting at the very heart of British democracy. In his 35 years, he had come a long way from the two-roomed cottage he was born in in Newhouse, North Lanarkshire.

Just four years before he entered parliament, at a public meeting in Glasgow in 1888, the Scottish Labour Party was founded – with Keir appointed the party's first secretary.
In his election address in the Mid-Lanark by-election of that year, he said:
“I ask you therefore to return to Parliament a man of yourselves who being poor can feel for the poor, and whose whole interest lies in the direction of securing for you a better and a happier lot.”

 

Women’s rights… healthy homes… work for the unemployed… opportunity for all… the values that Keir Hardie stood for all are still at the heart of our movement today.

 

When Keir took his seat in parliament in 1892 he wore the clothes of a working man, rather than the top hat and frock coat that was expected of an MP. Earlier this year, our new MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill – Hugh Gaffney – continued in that fine tradition by wearing his old work shirt on his first day in the Commons.

 

Hugh is the treasurer of the Keir Hardie Society. Keir dedicated his whole life to the Labour cause, which is why we honour him today by keeping alive his ideas and promoting his work.

By remembering what he achieved in the past, we remind ourselves what we seek to achieve in the future – a Scotland and UK that works for the many, not the few.

Unlike the Tories and the SNP, our party is not funded by big business and lottery winners.  We rely on individual donations from our members and supporters, to fund our campaigns and to help rebuild our party from the grassroots up. 

To celebrate this 125th anniversary, Scottish Labour and the Keir Hardie Society are offering an opportunity to purchase a commemorative pin badge gift box, which includes three special edition pin badges, in return for a donation of £12 or more. All donations will help us keep the spirit and values of Keir Hardie alive in towns and cities throughout Scotland. 

Click the image below to donate:

 

Join the Keir Hardie Club by clicking here: