A campsite owner has avoided prison after incorrectly installing a gas water heater which nearly killed a guest by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Stephen Paul Longden, aged 47, the owner of Mendip View Camping in Winford, pleaded guilty to an offence under health and safety legislation which prohibits installation of gas appliances by anyone who is not registered.
The heater was discovered in a shower block after a man suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mr Longden was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence and 200 hours of unpaid work at North Somerset Courthouse on October 16 after admitting to fitting the water heater. He was also ordered to pay £6,550 in costs to North Somerset Council.
His victim told the court he had suicidal thoughts after the incident and he still suffers from anxiety attacks.
In sentencing, it was said the defendant had shown ‘wilful blindness to the risk’, but ‘Mr Longden was genuinely remorseful for the incident’.
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