Director Jailed for Supplying Unsafe Equipment

A Derbyshire company director has been jailed for selling unsafe equipment to North Sea oil rigs. The faulty ball valves sold by 47-year-old Paul Timson with forged safety certificates could have caused an explosion and destroyed an entire North Sea oil rig.

Timson, who was jailed for 15 months at Derby Crown Court, had admitted 19 charges of forging safety certificates for ball valves, one charge of using forged business documents for financial gain, and three charges of supplying unsafe valves. The Court heard the deals made him £250,000 in 18 months.

The case followed a joint investigation by police and the HSE. The HSE issued an official safety alert in May 1999 after one of Timson’s customers noticed inconsistencies in safety certificates supplied with the valves.

After the case, HSE inspector Nick Marshall said: "Safety tests and certification aren’t just extra paperwork - these valves were for use in key safety systems in platforms across the world and if they’d failed, Timson’s actions could have cost many lives. Thankfully no one offshore was injured as users removed the valves at considerable expense after HSE’s safety alert. It was a serious offence and that’s reflected in the sentence."
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