Man sentenced for dangerous work on home extension

Inspectors said Abdul Rehman's work on his Trafford property was unsafe

A man has been handed a suspended sentence for "cost-cutting at the expense of safety" by re-roofing his home without scaffolding, inspectors have said.

Abdul Rehman began work on an extension to his two-storey house in Trafford, Greater Manchester in 2020, overseeing others working sometimes at night and without measures in place to stop them falling.

He ignored repeated warnings by the Health and Safety Executive and was found guilty of breaching regulations.

Rehman was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Rehman worked on his Kings Crescent home himself as well as overseeing others

He was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and to pay £6,450 in legal costs at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

Rehman initially set up an unsafe scaffold when he started the work in 2020, but took it down after several enforcement notices were served.

In November 2021, he restarted the work, overseeing several people who he had tasked with re-roofing the home.

HSE inspector Phil Redman said it was "fortunate nobody was seriously injured or killed" by Rehman's "serious breach" of health and safety rules.

A fixed scaffold should have been put up around the home, but Rehman chose to "put cost cutting at the expensive of safety", he added.