AN Island Energy supervisor praised the “great work” of the team allegedly responsible for the Haut du Mont explosion hours before the blast killed ten people, the Royal Court heard.
Neil Armstrong (58), John Wright (60) and Lee Ward (59) are accused of unlawfully killing the ten victims of the Haut du Mont explosion on 10 December 2022.
The three men, who all worked in the Network Operations team at Island Energy at the time of the blast, each deny ten counts of gross negligence manslaughter – one for each of those who passed away following the blast.
Jersey Gas, which trades as Island Energy, also denies two alleged breaches of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
At the Royal Court’s new Jubilee Wharf courtroom on Tuesday, Crown Advocate Simon Thomas, prosecuting, told jurors that the explosion on 10 December 2022 occurred because of the “exceptionally poor work” completed by the three defendants on the previous day.
Continuing his opening address yesterday, he explained that the men cutting the gas supply to Haut du Mont “in the wrong place” laid the foundation for the eventual tragedy.
“There was no reason to rush to try and get the supply reconnected to the Yacht Club”
Jurors were told that, once the incorrect pipe had been cut by Mr Wright, he ordered that the excavation be “backfilled” before heading to the Harbour with his assistant “for a cup of tea”.
But Advocate Thomas said the “satisfaction of having completed” the job was “short-lived” – with the St Helier Yacht Club soon complaining to Island Energy that it had lost its gas supply.
Mr Wright, jurors heard, later told investigators that “panic started to set in” when the team realised they had cut the wrong main – a panic that increased when a “Flash Alert” was issued to the Jersey Gas senior leadership team at around 2pm.
Mr Armstrong later told investigators that he understood the Yacht Club to be “expecting 150 guests” that evening and that the function risked cancellation if their gas could not be reconnected.
The prosecutor said that Mr Armstrong then decided to restore the Yacht Club’s gas supply that afternoon, despite the fact that “this was far from an emergency situation”.
“At the very most it meant that a group of people would not be able to eat as anticipated,” he noted. “It could not have provided any justification for reinstating gas without undertaking essential preliminary testing.”
“Mr Armstrong failed to ensure that all the ECVs were shut and plugged”
After making the decision to reinstate the Yacht Club’s gas supply – and, by extension, the gas supply at Haut du Mont – jurors were informed that Mr Armstrong headed back to the flats to check that the emergency control valves were “closed and plugged”.
Advocate Thomas said that during his visit to Haut du Mont, which took place between 2.30pm and 3.30pm, he was “pre-occupied” and spent a “considerable portion” of that period on the telephone.
“It appears that he was communicating with others either by telephone, SMS or email for nearly the whole time that he was at Haut du Mont,” Advocate Thomas said.
He argued that the extent of Mr Armstrong’s communication “begs the question” as to whether he had actually checked that the “crucial” emergency control valves were closed and plugged.
“One of the three valves was left open,” Advocate Thomas said. “Which meant the gas could escape if it was reintroduced to the network.”
“A pressure test would have indicated that there was a leak in the system”
Jurors were told that, having reconnected the pipes cut earlier that day, the three men collectively failed to carry out a “crucial, basic and fundamental” test – called a pressure test – on the pipework, before restoring the gas.
Advocate Thomas said: “Those involved made an assumption – it seems – that just because they were putting gas back into a system which only hours earlier had gas running through, it would be safe.
“Just as guesswork had been used in determining the location of the excavation, and the initial disconnection, we say that a gamble was taken with the recommission.”
Mr Wright later told investigators that he “did ask the question” about a pressure test, but was told by Mr Armstrong “not to carry out a pressure test”.
“[Mr Wright] said that Mr Armstrong was rushing and panicking,” the prosecutor said. “‘Flapping’ was the word that he used.”
But Crown Advocate Thomas told the jury that for Mr Wright and Mr Ward, who were also experienced gas engineers, to “simply go along with what Mr Armstrong was suggesting was entirely unacceptable”.
“I accept full responsibility for this”
It was heard that Clive Doyle, managing director of Island Energy at the time of the explosion, had instructed Mr Armstrong to carry out a pressure test earlier in the day – an instruction reinforced by his immediate superior James Cherry.
Advocate Thomas said that Mr Armstrong later texted Mr Cherry to say that he had completed the test. “That was a lie. Mr Armstrong knew full well that no pressure test had been carried out,” the Crown Advocate told jurors.
Later on in the evening, at 7.15pm, Mr Armstrong also told Island Energy’s safety and compliance officer that he had conducted the pressure test.
The court heard that Mr Doyle soon sent an email thanking Island Energy employees for their response, before scheduling a “sit down” the following week to “consolidate this learning”.
Mr Armstrong replied shortly before 8.30pm saying: “I expect full responsibility for this” before going on thank “[his] team” for their “great work”.
“What Mr Armstrong did not say is that no pressure test had been conducted and he had lied on two separate occasions when he suggested that it had,” Advocate Thomas continued.
Less than two hours after the subsequent explosion, at 5.30am, Mr Armstrong supposedly told the Island Energy Commercial Sales Manager: “I know what happened, I didn’t a put a test on,” Advocate Thomas said.
The court also heard that he allegedly told the same colleague: “It’s my fault, I think there’s a valve left open…I don’t know if I’ve shut that valve – I may have left it open, I don’t know if I plugged it off.”
Jurors were then read a message sent by Mr Armstrong on 10 December at 11.30pm to several individuals which stated: “I am sorry for putting you through this.”
Commissioner Andrew Oldham is presiding.
The trial continues.
