THE States police are “nearing the conclusion” of their investigation into the Haut du Mont explosion, the force’s chief officer has revealed.
Robin Smith said that the three suspects arrested in relation to the police investigation into the blast at Pier Road – which claimed the lives of ten Islanders in December 2022 – were interviewed again last week.
It is the second time that they have been spoken to since they were arrested in August on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
The investigation, referred to as Operation Spire, has involved 1,878 lines of inquiry, with 1,078 statements taken, 1,787 exhibits collected and 6,526 documents generated for analysis.
Providing an update, Mr Smith said: “We had three suspects return on bail last week, on the 2, 3 and 4 April.”
He continued: “Their re-appearance here at the police station coincided with another expert’s report that we had. As a result of that expert’s report – which is very detailed – we interviewed them all on separate days. They have now been put back on police bail.”
He added that the suspects were next due to return to the police station in May and could potentially be interviewed again.
While he did not wish to go into the detail of the expert report, Mr Smith described it as “significant” and said it was “the catalyst to speak again to our suspects”.
“The investigation now is very well-advanced and it would be fair to say that we, from an investigative point of view, are nearing the conclusion.”
Mr Smith also acknowledged the “enormous humanitarian effort” that saw more than 60,000 personal effects recovered after the explosion – the vast majority of which have been returned to affected families.
He praised the “dedication and determination” of both officers and staff over the last 15 months, including those involved in the major incident room established at police headquarters.
Mr Smith also provided an update on Operation Nectar, which relates to the other major incident that struck the Island in December 2022 – when the L’Ecume II fishing trawler sank following a collision with Condor’s Commodore Goodwill freight ship.
The incident, which took place just two days before the Haut du Mont explosion, resulted in the deaths of the trawler’s skipper, Michael Michieli, as well as crewmen Jervis Ramirez Baligat and Larry Simyunn.
Mr Smith reiterated that the subsequent file of evidence submitted to the Law Officers Department towards the end of last year was “huge”, adding: “We await their decision – clearly we are in conversation with them.
“Everybody wants to make sure that we do this carefully and right, not quickly and wrong.”
The nine residents who died in the Pier Road explosion were 72-year-old Peter Bowler, Raymie Brown (71), Romeu and Louise De Almeida (67 and 64 years), Derek and Sylvia Ellis (61 and 73 years), Ken and Jane Ralph (72 and 71 years) and 63-year-old Billy Marsden. Kathy McGinness (73), who lived in an adjacent block at 35 Haut de Mont was injured as a result of the explosion and died at the General Hospital on Christmas Day.
