The family of a man who died after being electrocuted while showering in his rat-infested accommodation have told of their grief.
Cricklewood car wash owner Shaip Nimani, 52, was jailed for four years at the Old Bailey on Monday (January 16) for the manslaughter of Sandu-Laurentiu Sava.
Mr Laurentiu worked at the Bubbles Carwash in Malcolm Place, Bethnal Green and lived in cramped conditions next door to the business.
He died on August 19, 2015, after being fatally electrocuted while showering at the accommodation, set up by Nimani.
Nimani was jailed for four years, ordered to pay £20,000 to the victim's family, £20,000 in costs and was banned from being a company director for 10 years.
'I did not want to believe'
A statement from Mr Laurentiu's brother, Marius Sava, said: “Firstly I would like to say that when I heard about the death of my brother I was devastated.
“I could not and did not want to believe that such a terrible thing had happened.
“My brother and I were close and we would speak at least once a month.
"Due to the circumstances of his death and the length of time it took to get his body repatriated I was even denied seeing his body in the coffin as it was sealed.
“My mother has been left shattered by what has happened, Sandu was her favourite son, he was also the youngest.
“She took it so badly that she had to be admitted to hospital.
"She is not a well woman. She has previously had a heart attack and we feared this news had brought on another one.”
The brother said that it cost €3,600 to repatriate Mr Laurentiu's body which put a strain on the family.
Searching for a better life
Mr Laurentiu was an unqualified labourer and left Romania for the UK, and his brother said he was searching for a better life.
He added: “I feel my brother was taken advantage of and exploited by Shaip Nimani during is time in the UK.
“I feel that the strongest punishment should be given to Shaip Nimani for justice for my brother and to send a message to other rogue employers that behaviour like this will not be tolerated.”
Mr Laurentiu lived in cramped, rat-infested conditions in railway arches with five other men who all worked at the car wash next door.
The men, all Romanian, who lived and worked with Mr Laurentiu told investigators they regularly received electric shocks while showering, but thought this was normal.
An investigation was launched after Mr Laurientiu collapsed in the shower at around 9.40pm in August 2015.
He was rushed to hospital but died later that evening.
Health and Safety Executive investigators and police inspected the accommodation and found it was wet and rat-infested, the living area was badly wired and there was a fire risk with overloaded plugs and extension leads plugged into more extension leads.
They also found the fuses in the consumer unit had been tampered with to ensure that they did not blow and the electric meter had been bypassed to avoid paying for electricity consumed on the site.
The shower 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.
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