Sunderland explosion: Man pleads guilty to causing gas blast which caused £1.4m of damage

Ian Lenaghan had initially denied causing the explosion that injured caused £1.4m worth of damage

A man has admitted causing a gas explosion in a residential street which caused £1.4m of damage and injured himself and three others.

Ian Lenaghan had denied involvement in the blast on Whickham Street, Sunderland, on 15 February but changed his plea at Newcastle Crown Court.

The 59-year-old cut a gas cooker hose causing the explosion which tore through a row flats.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 27 June.

Lenaghan and another man were seriously injured in the blast and were treated in hospital.

Two other people were injured and those living in eight of the other housing association-owned properties had to be rehomed.

Northumbria Police carried out an investigation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and firefighters.

It found the cooker hose had been cut multiple times with a sharp metal object before the blast in the kitchen of the first-floor flat.

Lenaghan, who lived on Wickham Street, had initially denied being involved but pleaded guilty to damaging property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

The gas blast happened in the middle of the afternoon on 15 February

Det Sgt Alan Whittle, of Northumbria Police, said: "Ian Lenaghan's actions that afternoon could so easily have resulted in a number of fatalities.

"It is sheer luck that nobody died in that blast.

"The damage caused on this residential street was significant, at an estimated value of up to £1.4m.

"It displaced people from their homes and came at a huge cost to everyone involved."

The two badly damaged flats have since been demolished.

The second man who was taken to hospital has since been discharged.

Police said it was "sheer luck that nobody died" in the explosion