George Brown pleaded gross negligence and was sentenced to two years in prison and two on licence for the manslaughter of two teenagers who were overcome by carbon monoxide from a poorly installed, faulty boiler in Castlerock, Derry in 2010.
OFTEC Ireland Manager, David Blevings said: “It was clear from this devastating case, that the very sad and untimely deaths may have been prevented if the installation of the boiler had been carried out by a fully qualified and competence technician.”
“The best way to protect yourself and your family from incidents like this is to make sure that any fuel burning appliance, whether it runs on gas, as was the case in Castlerock, oil or solid fuel, is installed by a fully registered installer. To ensure continued safety, they should also be serviced regularly by a registered technician – for oil consumers, this is an OFTEC registered technician as they carry a flue gas analyser that can specifically check for carbon monoxide spillage.”
OFTEC supports the Commission for Energy Regulation in its efforts to raise awareness of carbon monoxide in the Republic of Ireland. www.carbonmonoxide.ie