Gas Fitter Admits Manslaughter Of Teenagers

A gas fitter from Londonderry has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of two teenagers by carbon monoxide poisoning.

George Brown, who is from Aghadowey, had initially pleased not guilty to the charge of manslaughter.

In 2010, teenagers Neil McFerran and Aaron Davidson were staying at a holiday apartment in Castle Rock, Co L'derry, when they were overcome by gas. The friends, both 18 at the time, had been on a break to the town before they were due to get their exam results. They died on 3 August 2010 and were later discovered by their parents, who travelled to the apartment when they were unable to get in contact with the teens. Both had been poisoned by carbon monoxide from a badly installed fire.

In addition, to the charge of manslaughter, Mr Brown also previously denied a further 19 charges which involved failures in health and safety legislation, not just at the holiday apartment, but at private properties, including a restaurant and caravan park in Coleraine. The charges included a failure to protect non-employees, failing to ensure those fitting the gas appliances were qualified, and incorrectly fitting and failing to test that appliances were correctly connected.

On Tuesday, police welcomed Mr Brown's guilty plea on all 21 charges.

In a statement, Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Shields said: "Aaron and Neil's deaths were tragic and prompted a wide-scale rigorous investigation on 3 August 2010, involving members of the Health and Safety Executive NI's gas safety inspection team, its major investigations team, its scientific services unit and officers from the PSNI's criminal investigation department. This investigation culminated in today's guilty plea.

"Over the course of the last three years, the families of Aaron and Neil have sought to highlight the issue of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"It is an issue that all households should be aware of and I would remind service providers who work with installing heating systems or maintaining heating systems of the legal requirements and responsibilities that govern this area of business."

Mr Brown will be sentenced in March. He has been released on continuing bail.

(JP/CD)