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Landlord is fined £20,000 after faulty boiler kills girl aged six
Kiran Randhawa, Evening Standard23 May 2008
The director of a property company was fined £20,000 today because a faulty boiler caused the death of a six-year-old girl.
Elisabeth Giauque was found to have 20 times the normal level of carbon monoxide in her blood after she died.
She collapsed in the house her parents were renting in Wimbledon from Hussein Jajbhay while their home was renovated.
At Blackfriars crown court today, Jajbhay, 50, admitted breaking health and safety regulations.
He was fined £20,000 for failing to maintain a gas boiler in a safe condition and failure to obtain a safety certificate under Health and Safety legislation. Jajbhay, from Richmond, was also ordered to pay £35,000 in costs.
Nicolas Giauque, a hedge-fund boss from France, moved into the house in Castle Close in 2003 with his wife, Nathalie, daughter Elisabeth and sons Thomas and Alexis.
When they moved in they were shown a valid gas certificate issued within the previous 12 months. However, an inquest into the death heard the boiler was not checked again during their 18-month stay.
Carbon monoxide filtered through the cavity walls and floorboards above the boiler room into Elisabeth's bedroom.
On the night she collapsed, in February 2005, her parents had gone out, leaving her and her younger brothers with a nanny.
They returned to find her unconscious in her bedroom.
Elisabeth was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting but died two days later.
Doctors first diagnosed meningitis. But when relatives who stayed in her bedroom started to feel unwell, they suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
A post-mortem examination found that her bloodstream had a carbon monoxide level of 21.5mg. The normal figure is between 0mg and 0.8mg.
At the inquest at Westminster coroner's court in 2006, coroner Dr Paul Knapman gave a narrative verdict and said: "The source of the carbon monoxide poisoning was due to percolation from the gas boiler below the bedroom, which was faulty."
Jajbhay was taken to court by the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr Giauque, a director of Noonday Capital, and his wife have set up the Elisabeth Giauque Trust to raise awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mrs Giauque, 36, said: "You can never get closure from the death of your child.
"It's three years since we lost her and we still talk about her at home all the time. She was a lovely happy-go-lucky sixyearold girl and everyone remembers her for her infectious smile."
Mr Giauque said: "Ultimately, [Jajbhay] as our landlord was responsible for the maintenance of the boiler. Yet he tried to disclaim the ultimate responsibility and tried to get out of some of the legal trouble on technicalities."
Health and Safety Executive inspector Bill Hazleton, said: "This emphasises the importance of maintaining and checking gas appliances. Carbon monoxide is a silent killer and landlords have a duty to maintain their gas appliances."
