Israel Jackson, 56, of Sandbach Place, London, was sent by a contracted company to install a new boiler at the home of a 90-year-old man in Croydon in May 2022.
Jackson, who had lied about being qualified to carry out the work, botched the job and left the old man in peril. The sole trader has now been jailed for 12 months.
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 require those undertaking gas work to be Gas Safe registered and to hold the relevant qualifications to demonstrate their competence because unqualified work can lead to gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Jackson had been previously prosecuted for illegal gas work by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in 2015.
Although he has never been Gas Safe registered, Jackson installed a new boiler at the man鈥檚 home and issued a fraudulent gas safety certificate. The pensioner鈥檚 relatives raised concerns when they noticed the hot water was not working and there was a smell of gas.
Jackson returned to carry out repairs on more than one occasion 鈥� even after a British Gas engineer had issued an 鈥榠mmediately dangerous notice鈥�. This included on the day after that action was taken, with Jackson demanding his taxi fare be paid to come back to the house. While there, he ignored the dangerous notice and put the boiler back into use.
It was only a year later in June 2023 that another engineer 鈥� this time from BT Heating and Property 鈥� issued another immediately dangerous notice and replaced the boiler.
Gas Safe Register (GSR) inspectors attended the property and found that Jackson was not registered when he installed the boiler and provided the fraudulent certificate. The matter was investigated by HSE, whose inspectors found that he had continued to carry out gas fitting work since his previous conviction and had never registered with GSR.
Jackson had been sent to install the boiler by a company called U-Works Services Ltd. He had told them he was qualified to carry out gas work but the company made no attempt to verify that he was registered before sending him out to carry out the work on their behalf. The company was served with a prohibition notice by HSE.
Jackson pleaded guilty to contravening Regulation 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.聽 He was jailed for 12 months at Croydon Crown Court on 4th February 2026.
HSE inspector Lucy Ellison-Dunn said: 鈥淚srael Jackson did not think that the law applied to him. Despite a previous conviction for the same offence, he continued to carry out gas work and in this case, putting the life of a vulnerable man at risk.
鈥淗e fraudulently told people he was a registered gas engineer, despite not having the competence to install the boiler and pipework correctly.
鈥淐ustomers rightly expect that employers will carry out the proper checks on those they contract to complete work.聽 It is quick and easy to do this with the Gas Safe Register. I would ask all members of the public to verify an engineer鈥檚 registration online.鈥�
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