Man jailed for hospital gas blunder that killed one baby, caused a second brain damage
Sydney Morning Herald
by Clare SibthorpeFebruary 26, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
A former gas fitter has been sentenced to nearly three years in jail after being convicted of manslaughter for a hospital gas installation error that led to the death of one newborn and severe brain damage to another. Christopher Turner, 64, failed to properly test medical gas lines at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, resulting in two babies being exposed to nitrous oxide instead of oxygen in 2016. His actions were deemed a "significant departure" from expected standards, with the judge emphasizing that he had entirely skipped required tests.
Turner was contracted by BOC Limited to install and test oxygen and nitrous oxide lines in an operating theatre. During his work in 2015, he mislabeled gas pipelines in the hospital's roof, leading to a fatal mix-up. The error remained undetected until 2016 when John Ghanem, a newborn, was given the wrong gas during resuscitation and died shortly after. Another baby, Amelia Khan, was exposed to nitrous oxide
Verticals
worldaustralia
Originally published on Sydney Morning Herald on 2/26/2026