Capalaba electrician Abbos Ahmedov, 32, bypasses safety switches with ‘dangerous’ work

A bayside electrician who worked from Moreton Bay to Ipswich and purposely bypassed safety mechanisms to cut corners has copped personal and company fines totalling $128,000.

A bayside electrician and his company has been fined $128,000 after his unlicensed work — which included purposely bypassing safety devices — posed a “quite chilling” threat to customers.

Appearing at Cleveland Magistrates Court on Wednesday Capalaba man Abbos Ahmedov, 32, pleaded guilty to 11 charges.

They included performing electrical work without holding a licence; failing to comply with category 2 electrical safety duty — exposing an individual to a risk of death, injury or illness; and failing to comply with category 3 safety duty — person in control of electrical equipment to ensure electrical equipment is electrically safe.

As sole director and trader of Service2Go Pty Ltd he pleaded guilty to 19 charges of conducting work while unlicensed on behalf of the company.

The court heard Mr Ahmedov continued to work as an electrician despite facing disciplinary action while unlicensed in 2020 and 2021.

But it was potentially deadly work practices that prompted magistrate Zachary Sarra to describe his offences as “heinous”, “dodgy” and “dangerous”.

Working by himself in locations that included North Ipswich and Morayfield, Mr Ahmedov purposely bypassed safety devices and left wires exposed in residential properties.

In one instance, the court heard, he installed a patio ceiling fan in such a manner that it would collect water during rain events.

Capalaba man Abbos Ahmedov, 32, leaves Cleveland Magistrates Court. Picture: Marcel Baum.

“At one of the properties in Morayfield the unlicensed work performed by the defendant was again found not to comply with the wiring rules,” Mr Sarra said.

“That concerned replacing the danger switch at that property, subsequently altering the wiring in such a way to bypass the safety switch.

“Which is in total contradiction of the spirit of the legislation.

“It is specifically there to protect consumers from electrical discharges.”

Prosecutor for the Office of Work Health and Safety Prosecutor Jade Henderson said the persistent offending posed such risk that a criminal conviction was in order.

The prosecution further urged a personal fine between $50,000 – $80,000 and a penalty to the company, ranging from $150,000 – $200,000.

Defence barrister Jason Dudley acknowledged his client’s offending as “no doubt extremely serious”.

“There is plainly no excuse for the work he did,” Mr Dudley said.

The court heard Mr Ahmedov started his company after emigrating from Kurdistan and had been under significant stress borne of family-related immigration issues at the time of his illegal practices.

He initially ran a company called Service 24 Electrical in NSW before moving to Queensland and had fully co-operated with authorities once he had been charged, according to the defence.

The defendant said he understood he had put consumers in danger and would invest in extra training going forward.

Mr Sarra acknowledged the man’s “compelling” family history and his obvious remorse when sentencing him.

Mr Ahmedov was personally fined $50,000 after an $8,000 reduction taking into consideration fines already imposed by the Electrical Licensing Committee.

The court also heard that as part of disciplinary action previously taken by the Electrical Licensing Committee, Mr Ahmedov had been disqualified from holding an electrical work licence in Queensland for a period of 10 years from August 21, 2020.

His company Service2Go Pty Ltd was fined $76,000.

Mr Ahmedov and his company were also ordered to pay professional and court filing costs of $2,000.20.

No conviction was recorded.