Plumber fined after blast destroyed couple’s house

Elderly pair survived after being trapped beneath rubble

A bungling plumber who botched the installation of a boiler and blew up a pensioner couple’s bungalow in a catastrophic gas explosion that trapped them beneath the rubble, was spared jail yesterday.

Craig Hall left a gas pipe liable to come loose in Robin and Marion Cunningham’s home in Callander by crucially failing to solder a vital “ring” where it attached to the new equipment.

For eight months the dodgy fitting was held together by just a little paste used to prepare the joint for connection.

But eventually it separated, pouring gas at up to nine cubic metres an hour into the couple’s utility room.

Around 5.45 am on March 28 2013 the flammable atmosphere ignited, possibly sparked by the flicking of a light switch, “totally demolishing” the property.

Mr and Mrs Cunningham were pulled from the wreckage by fire-fighters.

Mr Cunningham, then 77, was taken by air ambulance to Glasgow Royal Infirmary with burns to his head, face, and both hands, and spent a full week in hospital. Mrs Cunningham, then 74, had less serious injuries, but has been left “frail and very anxious”.

Sheriff William Gilchrist said Hall, 35, had committed “an act that a person exercising reasonable care would not have committed”.

He continued: “I accept it was not an intentional offence or involving wilful blindness

“There were 20 solder rings that you had to adequately seal, and you did it with 19.

“You missed one.

“The consequences were severe because the solder ring that was missed was the gas pipe ... and the bungalow blew up.

“Thankfully the residents were not killed, but they could have been, and the consequences for them have been very serious.”

Sheriff Gilchrist said he also took into account that, according to testimonials placed before the court, Hall had “a good health and safety record” and no relevant previous convictions.

Fining Hall £3,000, he said: “For all of those reasons I am satisfied that the case can be dealt with appropriately by way of a financial penalty.”

Hall, of Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, was found guilty in December of causing the blast and destroying the couple’s home.

Craig Hall was sentenced yesterday for his failing which caused the blast in Callander.