Man admits causing £1.4m gas blast

A MAN has admitted causing a gas explosion which put two people in hospital and caused more than £1 million worth of damage to a residential street.

The blast started in the kitchen of a first-floor flat in Roker, Sunderland, on February 15.

Ian Lenaghan, 59, was one of two people taken to hospital with serious injuries as a result of the explosion, which destroyed one property and damaged several others.

An investigation by Northumbria Police, the Health and Safety Executive and Tyne & Wear Fire & Rescue Service found that a gas cooker hose had been cut multiple times with a sharp metal object prior to the blast.

Lenaghan, of Whickham Street, Sunderland, initially denied his involvement in the cause of the explosion but yesterday pleaded guilty to damaging property reckless as to whether the lives of three people were endangered, when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court.

Detective Sergeant Alan Whittle, of Northumbria Police, said: “Ian Lenaghan’s actions that afternoon could so easily have resulted in a number of fatalities. It is sheer luck that nobody died in that blast.”

Lenaghan was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 27.