Angus gas fitter’s botched boiler job almost killed customer

A bungling gas fitter who almost killed an Angus man through carbon monoxide poisoning has avoided a jail sentence.

Victim William Skinner only survived after his wife became concerned he wasn’t answering his mobile phone and returned home to find him unconscious, foaming at the mouth and close to death.

Forfar Sheriff Court heard that self-employed David Stott’s faulty installation of the LPG boiler had been a catalogue of disaster, leading to the Skinners being slowly poisoned over a week-long period at their cottage home near Montrose two years ago.

It led to one of the family dogs having to be destroyed.

Stott, 57, also of Montrose, who has spent a lifetime in the plumbing trade, was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work.

Reacting to the sentence, his victim said: “I’m lucky to be walking out of this court and I think he is too.”

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