KILLER DIY MAN JAILED

A Hackney man who fitted an unsafe boiler that killed two toddlers and their grandmother was jailed this week, writes Chloe Lambert

Atalokhia Omo-Bare, 50, installed the boiler for his friend Felicia Idugboe at a cheap rate in April last year. But he failed to tell her not to use it until an extractor fan was fitted.

Three days later Mr Omo-Bare broke down the door to Ms Idugboe’s house when she did not answer his telephone calls. Inside he found her sons Jeriel and Jaden, aged three and 18 months, and her mother Roseline, 66, lying dead in their bedrooms. Post mortems showed they were killed by carbon monoxide fumes that had leaked from the boiler when Ms Idugboe turned the hot water on.

Ms Idugboe, 37, and the children’s 22-year-old nanny, Teminiola Arogundade, were pulled from the two-storey house in Barking by firefighters. Both have suffered severe long-term brain damage. Ms Idugboe, who was pregnant at the time of the incident, went into a coma and subsequently lost the child.

Mr Omo-Bare, of Provost Estate, Hoxton, pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter and two counts of unlawful wounding. He had no qualifications for fitting gas appliances. At the Old Bailey this week he was sentenced to 20 months in prison, of which he is expected to serve ten months.

The court heard that Ms Idugboe, originally from Nigeria, has been forced to give up her job and now relies on carers to wash and dress her and cannot walk on her own.

The children’s nanny, Ms Arogundade, has also been unable to continue with her studies at Newham College.
Ms Idugboe had been friends with Mr Omo-Bare for 20 years. She told the court she had forgiven him and asked the judge not to send him to jail.

Judge Peter Rook told Mr Omo-Bare: “You were like a father to the children who died. You are a very kind, caring and supportive man, I have no doubt whatsoever. But this case is so serious that I must pass an immediate custodial sentence.”
At the time of the incident police issued a warning after concerns that Mr Omo-Bare could have fitted other appliances in the area. But DI Smith of the East London Specialist Crime Directorate said no one had come forward: “It’s a relief. There’s no indication he was working for any company. But it’s all losers with this case.”

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