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A gas fitter who worked on a Christchurch home the day before it exploded and seriously injured several people must pay more than $ 100,000 to blast victims.
Gregory John Smith, owner of the Christchurch firm Gas Unlimited, was also sentenced to 325 hours of community service in Christchurch District Court after pleading guilty to violating the 1992 Gas Act.
Gas Unlimited was fined $ 82,500 for violating the Gas Metering and Safety Regulations.
Smith was ordered to pay a repair of between $ 15,000 and $ 25,000 to each of the five occupants who were in the home at the time of the explosion.
A $ 5,000 reparation will be paid to three other victims, while the rest of the victims will also receive emotional damage payments. The total repair payable is $ 134,300.
Chris Skelton / Stuff
Gregory John Smith, owner of the Christchurch firm Gas Unlimited, in Christchurch District Court in September 2020.
The explosion occurred at Marble Court in Northwood in July 2019, destroying a home and causing significant damage to several other properties.
Smith had done work on a gas fire at the home the day before, after the occupants had trouble earlier in the week.
It was later established that Smith had not isolated the gas supply to the fire that was in the middle of the repair and did not tell residents not to turn the main gas supply back on when he left.
John Kirk-Anderson / Stuff
Aerial images of the house showed the extent of the blast.
Residents turned the main supply back on after Smith left and the house slowly filled with gas overnight and into the morning.
The explosion was caused by an electric thermostat in a hot water cylinder that disengaged and generated a spark.
The owner and two couples were in the house when it exploded. Their names have been suppressed by the court.
Chris Skelton / Stuff
Smith, left, accompanied by his attorney, Joseph Lill, on his way to sentencing Tuesday.
Six people were rushed to hospital after the blast, which was so loud it could be heard and felt in other parts of Christchurch.
Five other properties were severely affected by the blast, while 17 more were damaged by the debris.
Several of the people caught up in the incident testified to the effect the blast had had on their lives through victim impact statements read in court on Tuesday.
One woman, whose statement was read on her behalf, said that although her insurance covered most of the damage, many of the things she lost were irreplaceable.
Alden Williams / Stuff
Property was completely destroyed in the explosion, while neighboring houses were also severely damaged.
He said he had saved money to visit relatives abroad, but had to use that money for expenses related to the blast.
She believed that many of the victims “have not yet fully recovered from that horrible day.”
Another victim personally read his statement in court, detailing how the explosion had affected him.
“By the grace of God, we are all alive.”
He said he was still emotionally affected by the ordeal and struggled to interact with family and friends in the same way that he used to.
Edwina L / Screenshot
The explosion had devastating consequences for the small Christchurch road.
“My life has changed, perhaps permanently.” He said he had no bad feelings towards anyone and that he just wanted to move on “as much as we can.”
A resident whose home needed two months of repairs after being damaged by the blast previously said Stuff he and many other affected residents had encountered problems with their insurance companies, comparable to those they faced after the Canterbury earthquakes.
Another resident said that his home suffered major structural damage and that his insurance company had spent around $ 170,000 on repairs.
