AN extended panel of 16 jurors has been selected for what is expected to be a two-month trial of three former gas workers accused of manslaughter over the Haut du Mont explosion which killed ten people.
Neil Armstrong, Lee Ward and John Wright – who each deny ten counts of gross-negligence manslaughter– appeared in the dock at the Royal Court yesterday morning for first day of one of the biggest criminal cases the Island’s courts have ever seen.
Representatives of Jersey Gas, which trades as Island Energy, were also present in relation to two alleged breaches of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
Ten people died as a result of the explosion at a block of flats on Pier Road on 10 December 2022.
Haut du Mont residents Peter Bowler (72), Billy Marsden (62), Derek Ellis (61), Sylvia Ellis (73), Ken Ralph (72), Jane Ralph (71), Romeu De Almeida (67), Louise De Almeida (64) and Raymond Brown (71) lost their lives in the blast.
Kathy McGinness (73), who lived in an adjacent block at Haut du Mont, died at the Hospital on Christmas day after sustaining injuries as a result of the explosion.
Yesterday, 16 Islanders were selected from a pool of 26 to form the expanded jury panel. Only 12 will ultimately decide the verdicts, however, with the four “reserve” jurors to be removed before deliberations.
Commissioner Andrew Oldland, presiding, informed the selected jurors that the trial will now “much more likely” run for “closer to two months” – rather than the original three month estimate – thanks to a “good deal of agreement in respect of the evidence”.
The jury panel were then asked to confirm that they had not carried out any independent research, not discussed the case with any other persons and did not know any person relevant to the case or the legal proceedings.
Mr Oldland also gave the panel the chance to provide any “compelling reason” that would prevent them from serving on the jury.
After each juror confirmed their impartiality, the panel were dismissed and told to return to the Royal Court this morning to be officially sworn in.
“It will just give you some further time to consider, finally, whether anything might prevent you from serving on this jury,” Mr Oldland declared. “Hopefully, there won’t be.”
The court heard that after being sworn in, the 16 jurors will be transported to the newly created Royal Court Room 4 at Jubilee Wharf on the Esplanade in St Helier, where the Crown is expected to open its case later today.
Bailiff’s Chambers chief officer Steven Cartwright MBE told the JEP that it cost the government “£250,000 in round figures” to transform the former government building into the courtroom complex, which is now set to accommodate the two-month trial.
