WORK completed to cut off the gas supply to Haut du Mont before and after the explosion which killed ten people “was not correct” and “went against all the codes”, a former Island Energy manager has told jurors.
Neil Armstrong (58), John Wright (60) and Lee Ward (59) are alleged to have unlawfully killed the ten victims of the Haut du Mont explosion on Saturday 10 December 2022.
The three men, who worked together in the network operations team at the time of the blast, each deny ten counts of gross negligence manslaughter.
Jersey Gas, which trades as Island Energy, also denies two alleged breaches of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
Crown Advocate Simon Thomas, prosecuting, has told jurors that the Haut du Mont tragedy occurred because of “sloppy” and “unsafe” work carried out “exceptionally badly” by the three defendants on the day before the explosion.
He alleged that the three men first cut the wrong pipe while attempting to “decommission” gas supply to Haut du Mont, before failing to conduct an industry-standard “pressure test” having then decided to reconnect the gas supply.
The prosecution also say that Mr Armstrong made the “crucial” mistake of leaving a gas valve “open and unplugged” at Haut du Mont, which in turn led to the fatal gas leak that cost ten lives.
At the Royal Court’s temporary Jubilee Wharf courtroom yesterday, Mark Wheeldon – Island Energy’s former asset delivery manager – said that the work completed by the three defendants prior to the explosion had contravened “all” of the relevant health and safety codes.
He described being made aware that the network operations team had accidentally disconnected gas supply to several commercial premises, including the Island Energy workspace near La Colette, when his “office began to get cold” on 9 December.
But Mr Wheeldon, who has since left his role at the company, told the jury that he didn’t believe it was “urgent” for the team to begin reconnecting the gas supply.
“I assumed that they were trying to find out what had gone wrong, and then they were planning to put it [back] on sometime later”, he explained.
“The reason I say that is that the scale of the job was three days of work to recommission the La Collete network.”
He stated that the team, led by supervisor Mr Armstrong, would have needed more time to fully excavate the area in which they had cut off the supply in the wrong place.
“That is not a day’s work or three hours’ work,” he clarified. “It was a fairly big job. It wasn’t something that I would want to do overnight and, like I said, it just wasn’t urgent as far as I was concerned.”
Mr Wheeldon said he would have been “really unhappy” to have had to authorise the reconnection, on account of the lack of information available about the exact lay-out of the disconnected pipework.
“But for some reason Island Energy thought they were an expense that they maybe could do without”
Advocate Thomas asked the former asset delivery manager if Island Energy team leaders Mr Wright and Mr Ward had access to “maps” of the pipework – and, by extension, all of the relevant utilities near the gas mains – when reconnecting the gas supply.
Mr Wheeldon answered that team leaders did not have “access” to licences allowing them to see detailed maps of the excavation site via their work iPads.
“I was responsible for pushing for the licences for the team leaders after the event, because I found out [then] that they didn’t have access to maps,” he noted.
He said he voiced his concern to senior members of the Island Energy managerial team about team leaders not having “real time access” to critical information.
“Do you remember when you had to push for licences, how expensive they were?”, the prosecutor enquired.
Mr Wheeldon responded: “In my world, they weren’t very expensive, but for some reason Island Energy thought they were an expense that they maybe could do without.”
“It went against all the codes”
The court heard that Mr Wheeldon “offered” his expert advice to Mr Armstrong on the evening of 9 December, but was told that the job was “in hand”.
“It did [surprise me],” he said. “Looking at my background and the experience I’ve got, if I’d have been in his position I would have wanted all the help I could get.”
The witness said that after the explosion on 10 December, he began “gathering evidence” about how exactly the tragedy had occurred.
This included him heading to the original excavation site to check on the network operations team, who were working at the excavation site near commercial buildings.
“I wasn’t happy [with what they were doing]”, I must admit”, he said, adding that the work being done to “cap off” the gas supply to Haut du Mont after the explosion “went against all the codes”.
He described being “disturbed” to see that the gas flow had not been permanently capped “as soon” as the team arrived on the site.
Asked to venture his opinion on the work completed before the explosion to cut the gas supply to Haut du Mont, Mr Wheeldon responded: “The work they did was not correct.”
He explained: “Even though it was in the wrong place [that they the cut the pipe], they hadn’t identified the pipework the way they should have, they hadn’t identified the connection.”
Commissioner Andrew Oldland is presiding.
The trial continues.
