Landlord's dodgy boiler killed girl

As published in the Daily Mirror
Saturday May 6th
By Richard Smith

A young girl was gassed to death in her sleep after her landlord ignored warnings that a boiler was a death-trap, a court heard yesterday.

Katie Overton, 11, was silently poisoned by toxic fumes leaking from the flue into her room. The boiler had not been serviced for seven years.

Judge Keith Cutler slammed Paul Clark for ignoring three warnings from professionals over the boiler in the Overton family’s rented house. And he warned buy-to-let landlords they cannot just ‘sit back and collect the rent’.

Clark, 38, was ordered to pay £60.000 after he admitted failing to have the boiler maintained and serviced, at Winchester crown court.

Carbon monoxide levels of 12,795 parts per million were recorded by investigators after Katie’s death. A simple clean reduced emissions to two parts per million.

Judge Keith Cutler told Clark, of Southsea, Hants: ‘it may stand as a warning to an increasing number of people buying to let that one cannot sit back and collect the rent. “There are very serious responsibilities attached”.

If you are a landlord or a property agent with your gas appliances unchecked, call us today on 0800 195 1269 for your Landlord Gas Safety Certificate.