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A trainee electrician has been fined $10,000 by the New Plymouth District Court for unsupervised work that could have resulted in death.
Bradley Carl Payne breached the Electricity Act 1992, when he installed conductors and fittings to a shipping container on a south Taranaki residential property while unsupervised in March 2022.
It resulted in Payne leaving an exposed live wire on a kitchen bench inside the container which gave the property owner an electric shock.
Judge Tony Greig found Payne guilty of two charges of doing unauthorised prescribed electrical work and one charge of negligently doing work in a manner dangerous to life.
"This type of negligent work just goes to show that carrying out prescribed electrical work needs expertise, training, and qualification, without which it can be even fatal," said Duncan Connor, Registrar of Electrical Workers.
"All complaints about unauthorised and poor or dangerous work are taken seriously and investigated by the EWRB, who will not hesitate to prosecute those undertaking illegal prescribed electrical work."
