Businessman’s carbon monoxide trial ‘back to square one’

The case of a Fife man accused of putting the occupants of an Angus house at risk of deadly carbon monoxide poisoning due to a badly-fitted stove is “back to square one” after his lawyer quit.

Justin Jackson’s solicitor was given leave by a sheriff at Forfar after saying he could not represent the 47-year-old.

Jackson, of Whinpark Place, Newburgh, denies knowingly or recklessly engaging in a practice which contravened professional diligence while fitting a stove in North Esk Road, Edzell, between June 18 and July 28 2016.

He is charged with failing to provide a carbon monoxide detection system and also of putting the occupants at risk of poisoning by failing to secure the joint where a flexible flue liner met the chimney cowl.

He is also accused of fitting flue pipes and a liner with a diameter less than that of the stove outlet, failing to install an air vent or provide adequate air gaps around the stove, and failing to provide a label or other indelibly marked sign to alert future workmen to the specification of the installed system.

Jackson also denies making a misleading statement on his website that Stove Safe was located in Perth, knowing that was false. He is also accused of making a further misleading claim on his website that services were provided by “a team of HETAS qualified installers with over 15 years’ experience”.

His solicitor Brian Bell said the case had a “degree of complexity” and he was withdrawing from it.

Sheriff Martin-Brown said the case was now potentially “back to square one” and set a further diet for January 30.