It is thirty years since the tragic and avoidable deaths of Trevor and Alan Leighton at the house they rented on Sandford Road in Mapperley.
Their deaths (in 1992) from carbon monoxide poisoning was avoidable. It was the consequence of the landlord cutting corners and reconnecting a faulty boiler that had been taken out of service by a heating engineer. Whilst the regulations have changed since this tragedy, it remains a sombre reminder about the dangers of poorly maintained heating systems.
Many of you will remember this tragedy. Most of you will know the house in question because it has not been occupied since. The overgrown garden is noticeable to people using Porchester Road.
John Heppell MP for Nottingham East is recorded as raising the matter in Parliament in 1994.
A very sad aspect of the case to which I have referred, that of Alan and Trevor Leighton, is that they realised that there was something wrong. But they did not know that the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning were the result of a faulty gas appliance. Something must be done to ensure that such avoidable tragedies do not happen. No court action or feelings of vengeance will bring back those brothers or any of the other victims. Not even justice can do that.
John Heppell MP (Hansard 1994)
The landlord of 2 Sandford Road was convicted on two health and safety charges in January 1995. He was fined £32,000 with £24,861 costs. When the police found the bodies at their Sandford Road home, investigations were launched by British Gas, detectives and health and safety officers.
Our vision is that everyone in the UK understands the dangers of carbon monoxide and takes preventative measures to make sure that they do not fall victim to it
There was another similar tragedy in Gloucestershire, that prompted relatives to set up a charity: https://www.katiehainestrust.com
Their vision is that everyone in the UK understands the dangers of carbon monoxide and takes preventative measures to make sure that they do not fall victim to it, such as buying an audible alarm, having burning appliances checked regularly and taking an alarm when travelling abroad.
Finally, after thirty years, the house at 2 Sandford Road has been demolished and the site is about to be developed The proposal is for ten dwellings on the site, with adequate parking to be integrated via a roadway off Porchester Road.
Gedling Borough Council planning portal states that the proposed development will follow the building line of adjacent buildings, and will be set back from the street to lessen the impact from the Porchester Road, also that trees that have been felled will be replaced with Hornbeam (Carpinus betulu)
The proposed building will be contemporary, but ‘utilizing traditional Victorian details and styling. The style of the building draws upon the more traditional aspects of Porchester Road.
The aspect from Porchester Road will be of traditional red brickwork with brick detail bands at each floor level and at eaves level. The roof will be clad in grey tiles and broken up visually with contemporary dormer windows which extend the verticality of the lower floor design. There will be modern styled chimneys clad in metal.
The family of Trevor and Alan Leighton have had to move on from this tragedy, and Sandford Road looks to do so too.