Gas fitter must pay $134,300 to victims of blast
A gas fitter who carried out work at a Christchurch home a day before it exploded and left several people seriously injured must pay more than $100,000 to the victims of the blast.
Gregory John Smith, owner of Christchurch firm Gas Unlimited, was also sentenced to 325 hours’ community work when he appeared in the Christchurch District Court after earlier pleading guilty to breaching the Gas Act 1992.
Gas Unlimited was fined $82,500 for breaching Gas Safety and Measurement Regulations.
Smith was ordered to pay reparation of between $15,000 and
$25,000 to each of the five occupants that were in the house at the time of the explosion.
Reparation of $5000 is to be paid to three other victims, while the rest of the victims will also receive emotional harm payments. The total reparation to be paid is
$134,300.
The explosion happened in Marble Court in Northwood in July 2019, destroying a house and causing significant damage to several other properties.
Smith had carried out work on a gas fire in the house the day before, after the occupiers had problems earlier in the week.
It was later established that Smith had not isolated the gas supply to the fire he was part-way through repairing, and failed to tell the residents not to turn the main gas supply back on when he left.
The residents switched the main supply back on after Smith left and the house slowly filled with gas overnight and into the morning.
The explosion was triggered by an electric thermostat on a hot water cylinder disengaging and creating a spark.
The homeowner and two couples were in the house when it exploded. Their names have been suppressed by the court.
Six people were taken to hospital after the explosion, which was so loud it could be heard and felt across other parts of Christchurch.
Five other properties were severely affected by the blast, while 17 more were damaged by debris.
Several of those caught up in the incident gave testimony to the effect the explosion had had on their lives through victim impact statements read in court yesterday.
One woman, whose statement was read on her behalf, said although her insurance covered most of the damage, many of the things she lost were irreplaceable.
She believed many of the victims ‘‘have still not fully recovered from that horrifying day’’.