A gasfitter has been charged with the manslaughter of a newborn baby who was given the wrong gas in a Sydney neonatal ward.

The boy died of severe hypoxemia 57 minutes after he was born in Operating Theatre Eight in the Bankstown hospital on July 13, 2016.

He required resuscitation after his birth and while medical staff believed they were administering oxygen, the boy was given nitrous oxide from the theatre’s neonatal medical gas system, killing him.

The system had also been used on another baby a month earlier, leaving that girl with a permanent brain injury.

The incorrect gas connection was discovered the next week.

In total, 36 babies were born in the theatre between the gas installation and the discovery of the error, but only two required oxygen from the wall panel.

Following a coroner’s referral of the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Laurie Turner, 61, attended Bankstown Police Station on Monday and was arrested.

He now faces charges of manslaughter by criminal negligence and causing grievous bodily harm by a negligent act or omission.

Police allege Turner failed to adhere to the Australian standards when certifying oxygen connections within the neonatal medical gas outlet at the hospital in July 2015.

The gasfitter, according to a court in 2020, signed a form stating he’d tested the Operating Theatre Eight outlets and 100 per cent oxygen was flowing from the pipe labelled oxygen.

A magistrate on Monday granted Turner bail on the condition he report thrice weekly to police, live in a specific address near Lake Macquarie and have someone put up a $10,000 surety.

He’s also banned from contacting prosecution witnesses except through his lawyer.

The matter was adjourned until October 26 to allow the brief of evidence to be served on Turner.

-AAP