The owner of a carwash has been jailed for manslaughter after an employee died when he was electrocuted while living in dilapidated conditions provided by the business.
Shaip Nimani, 52 (16.12.64) of Purley Avenue, NW2 was convicted at the Old Bailey on Thursday, 12 January of the manslaughter of Sandu Laurentiu.
On Monday, 16 January, he was jailed for four years and ordered to pay £20,000 to the victim’s family.
Mr Laurentiu was fatally electrocuted on 19 August 2015 while taking a shower at the living accommodation set up by Nimani at Bubbles Carwash in Malcolm Place, E2.
He was living in the cramped, rat-infested conditions in railway arches with five other men – all from Romania – while they worked at the carwash next door.
The wash area was so dangerous that men who lived and worked with Mr Laurentiu told investigators they regularly received electric shocks while showering but thought this was the norm.
An investigation was launched when London Ambulance Service was called to Bubbles Carwash at 21:40hrs on 19 August 2015 when Mr Laurentiu collapsed in the shower. He was taken to the Royal London Hospital but he was pronounced dead later that evening.
Health and Safety Executive investigators and police inspected the living quarters and found the premises as a whole were wet and rat-infested. The living area was badly wired and a fire risk with plugs overloaded and extension leads plugged into more extension leads.
They also found the fuses in the consumer unit had been tampered with to ensure that the fuses did not blow and the electric meter had been bypassed to avoid paying for electricity consumed on the site.
The shower itself was inspected by an HSE investigator who found that the electrical installation to the shower had been constructed in such a manner that there was no earth connection to it and had not been appropriately maintained. In addition unauthorised modifications had been made to the power supplier’s electrical equipment.
An order was made that banned Nimani from becoming a company director for the next ten years. He was also ordered to pay £20,000 costs.
= a second man, Nusret Nimani, 52 (16.12.64) of Killowen Avenue, UB5 was acquitted of manslaughter at the same hearing.