THREE men charged with causing the deaths of ten people due to negligence appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning.
And the company that employed them, Island Energy, faced separate charges in court for breaching health-and-safety laws.
The three former Island Energy workers, Neil Armstrong (56), Lee Ward (57) and John Wright (59), were each charged with ten counts of gross negligence manslaughter resulting from the gas explosion at Haut du Mont flats in Pier Road in 2022.
Ten people were killed and two were injured in the blast, just before 4am on 10 December that year. All the victims were in their 60s and 70s.
They were Peter Bowler (72), Raymond Brown (71), Louise De Almeida (64), Romeu De Almeida (67), Derek Ellis (61), Sylvia Ellis (73), Jane Ralph (71), Ken Ralph (72), Billy Marsden (62) and Kathy McGinness (73).
The two-year investigation into the incident cost more than £11 million and was described by Detective Superintendent Alison Fossey as “the largest and most complex in the States of Jersey Police’s 70-year history”.
The three-storey block of flats was completely destroyed by the blast, while many buildings nearby suffered structural damage and broken windows.
Three housing blocks on the site had to be demolished on safety grounds and Pier Road did not fully reopen to the public until May of last year.
Gross negligence manslaughter is the legal term for a form of unintentional killing caused by failing to take an action or mistakenly taking the wrong action. It is most commonly seen in medical cases.
Island Energy appeared in court to answer two charges under Jersey’s health and safety laws.
The charges relate to an alleged failure to ensure the health and safety of employees at the company and others not in their employment.
The summons was brought by the Health and Safety Inspectorate, who said its investigation had run in parallel with the police investigation.
The three men and Island Energy are due to appear in the Royal Court on 28 May.
