Mobile homes deadly danger
CARAVAN park owner Tina Gavin lived in an exclusive South Yorkshire home while dozens of her tenants were in constant danger of being killed by gas explosions or deadly fumes.
The mum-of-three, who lives in a luxurious, large detached home in St Eric's Road, Bessacarr, Doncaster, was raking in at least 1,200 a week in rent on more than 30 mobile homes at the Willow Bridge site near North Bridge while ignoring safety regulations covering gas supply to the trailers.
When Health and Safety Executive engineers inspected the homes they found gas leaks and dangerous levels of deadly carbon monoxide fumes.
The problems were so serious the engineers ordered every home to be cut off from the gas supply because of the immediate danger to the lives of the tenants, all of whom were having their rent paid by the taxpayer.
It cost Gavin almost 5,000 to rectify the faults but she was landed with a much bigger bill when Doncaster magistrates fined her 16,000 for breaching the Health and Safety Act and ordered her to pay the HSE costs of 7,500.
Gavin pleaded guilty to the offence and magistrate Michael Conway told her she had fallen well below the standard expected of a landlady.
"You were negligent regarding all the properties and you were very fortunate that you are not facing even more serious charges because everyone is aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. The serious nature of the charge will be reflected in the amount of fine we impose." The maximum Gavin could have been fined by the bench was 20,000.
HSE prosecutor Andrew Cameron said Gavin had been the sole owner of Willow Bridge caravan park since 1999 when she acquired it as part of a divorce settlement. The 31 mobile homes were occupied by people in receipt of housing benefits.
When an HSE inspector visited the site in September 2006 many of the tenants reported gas problems and a gas engineer was called in to inspect three of them in detail.
In the first he found leaking gas, dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, flames from the cooker hob were scorching the wall and there was no bracket to keep the cooker stable.
Occupant Stuart Badham said it had always been like that in the nine years he had lived there and he had never been given a gas safety certificate.
The second, occupied by Andrew Vaughan, was found to have a serious gas leak, leaks on the supply pipe, and old pipes had been dangerously sealed off. He had been living for months without hot water or heating.
Ian Armitage's mobile home was found to have scorch marks on the carpet in front of the gas fire and a bathroom water heater which constantly cut out because it was making too much carbon monoxide. He had complained about 10 times to Gavin but nothing was done about it, said Mr Cameron.
One gas engineer wrote in his report: "In my 32 years in the industry I have never come across such poor standards and lack of maintenance".
Gavin's barrister, Lee Bennett, said she had never been in court before and the case had been an ordeal for her.
Mr Bennett said: "There was no death or serious injury as a result of this case. She was not deliberately trying to profit from shortcutting on costs.
"She accepts there was a serious risk and she exp-resses her regret and remorse. She doesn't want to give the impression she is the wicked witch of the caravan site who is exploiting tenants."
After the hearing, HSE inspector Chris Chambers said: "This case is one of the most flagrant breaches of gas safety issues in relation to health and safety law that I have ever dealt with.
"Ms Gavin was putting the lives of her tenants at grave risk."
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