Tradie who accidentally installed pipelines which gave newborn babies nitrous oxide instead of oxygen in a horrific mix up that killed one and gave another severe brain damage walks FREE from court
- Christopher Turner was ordered to pay $100,000 over gas bungle at a hospital
- Baby John Ghanem died in July 2016 after he was ventilated with nitrous oxide
- Amelia Khan suffered brain damage when she was given the gas a month earlier
- Turner was subcontracted to install piped medical oxygen at the hospital in 2015
Amelia Khan suffered brain damage because she was mistakenly administered nitrous oxide
A subcontractor who accidentally installed the wrong pipelines at a hospital - resulting in newborn babies being given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen - has walked free from court with a fine.
Christopher Turner was on Friday ordered by Sydney's Downing Centre District Court to pay $100,000 over the fatal gas bungle at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital almost four years ago.
Baby John Ghanem died in July 2016 after he was ventilated with nitrous oxide - commonly known as laughing gas - from a gas port labelled 'oxygen' in the hospital's operating theatre eight.
A month earlier, Amelia Khan suffered brain damage because she was likewise mistakenly administered nitrous oxide from the same gas outlet when she required resuscitation upon delivery.
The court was told Amelia was likely to have life-long quadriplegic cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities, was unlikely to develop speech and would be reliant on others for all aspects of her care.
'The extent of the harm caused is almost too awful to contemplate,' Judge David Russell said in handing down his verdict.
'I cannot think of a more tragic case. John Ghanem lost his life and his parents will live with their grief forever.
Amelia Khanare is pictured with her parents. She suffered brain damage after she was fed nitrous oxide instead of oxygen soon after her birth in Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital
Christopher Turner was on Friday ordered by Sydney's Downing Centre District Court to pay $100,000 over the fatal gas bungle at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital almost four years ago
'Amelia Khan has been condemned to a terrible existence. Her parents will have to provide care and assistance to Amelia and deal with their own grief.'
Sonya and Youssef Ghanem released a statement through family lawyer Stephen Mainstone.
'No penalty handed down by a court will ever bring back their son who they lost in not only tragic but completely avoidable circumstances,' the statement said.
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In 2016, Ms Ghanem spoke through tears about the moment she learnt her newborn baby was dead.
'Just looking at him, shaking, ''my son, wake up'', I would tell him ''wake up, what did they do to you?'' she told Nine News at the time.
Turner pleaded guilty to failing in his duty under the Work Health and Safety Act and was facing a maximum fine of $150,000.
Judge Russell said both families had cause to consider the $100,000 punishment lenient, but noted there was no scope under the Act to impose a prison sentence.
Turner's penalty was discounted for his cooperation with authorities and expressing remorse in a written statement.
The court found Turner failed in several of his duties when he failed to carry out cross connection and oxygen concentration tests.
The bungle arose when he was subcontracted to carry out work to install piped medical oxygen at the hospital in July 2015.
Turner signed several certificates which indicated he carried out safety checks, even though he had not.
He also failed his requirement to perform the tests in the presence of a hospital staff member.
John Ghanem's family (pictured) were left devastated over the tragic death of their newborn baby in 2016
Judge Russell found Turner told the hospital's assistant engineer Paul Brightwell that he didn't have to be present for the testing, and convinced him to sign the testing certification.
Amelia Khan's parents, Benish and Danial, said they were 'extremely disappointed to learn that errors made by other people' contributed to their daughter's condition.
SafeWork NSW in 2018 launched cases against Mr Brightwell, but dropped the charges for legal reasons.
The family wants the regulator to re-open its investigation into Mr Brightwell and others.
'We strongly believe that everyone responsible needs to be held to account for their involvement and we are determined to make sure that justice is done,' they said in a statement.
Last week, BOC Limited, the company contracted to complete the work, was found not guilty of breaching its health and safety duty because Turner had lied to them.
SafeWork NSW last year dropped charges against the hospital because of its good health and safety record.
Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital (pictured) in Sydney's south-west, where two newborns were fed nitrous oxide instead of oxygen in the birthing suite
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