In a Scottish city, a son was living with his elderly, housebound mother, when a bypassed electricity meter caused an electrical fire.
The flat they shared – within a block of 8 similar properties – had been fitted with a normal pre-payment electricity meter. Under significant financial pressure, the son arranged to have the meter bypassed in order to save money on bill payments. A fire was caused by an electrical spark, and in an extremely harrowing series of events, his mother was unable to exit the property in time. She died due to smoke inhalation before fire officers reached the scene.
The son admitted what he had done to police and was charged with causing her death. A subsequent investigation showed that families in five of the eight flats had all bypassed their meters in the same way, endangering not just their own lives and property, but those of their neighbours and any innocent visitors.
If you have evidence of a bypassed or tampered electricity meter, or suspect someone is stealing electricity, report it to Stay Energy Safe completely anonymously.
Source: Scottish Power