Two brothers from the UK with little or no experience of building and construction work have been given prison sentences after they exposed workers to asbestos, continually ignoring orders from the official safety regulator to stop.

At least seven workers are known to have been exposed to asbestos – one aged just 17 at the time – by snooker hall manager Akram Hussain, 52, and taxi driver Inam Hussain, 47, during refurbishment work at a former print works. Neither was qualified or experienced in construction, demolition or refurbishment work; nor were they licensed to remove asbestos. Nonetheless, they have been carrying out the work on the building for around ten years.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the brothers after an investigation found work was being carried out without the necessary asbestos surveys and without a Construction, Design and Management co-ordinator (CDM) in place, which is required if work is to take more than 30 days.

Akram Hussain and Inam Hussain both pleaded guilty to a criminal safety offence. Akram Hussain was jailed for 22 months and ordered to pay costs of £43,000. Inam Hussain was jailed for 14 months.