AN Island Energy supervisor rushed the “unplanned reconnection” of a gas network leading to Haut du Mont without “paperwork” or a proper plan in place, the Royal Court heard yesterday.
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 worked together in the network operations team at Island Energy 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.
Opening the case at the Royal Court’s temporary Jubilee Wharf courtroom last week, Crown Advocate Simon Thomas told jurors that the explosion occurred because of “exceptionally poor work” completed by the three defendants on the day before the blast.
He explained that the team, led by supervisor Mr Amstrong, was tasked with “decommissioning” gas supply to Haut du Mont on 9 December.
But, he added, the men ended up cutting the wrong pipe, which inadvertently caused the nearby St Helier Yacht club to lose its supply.
Jurors were told that work subsequently completed to restore gas supply to the Yacht Club led to gas leaking into Haut du Mont, which caused the tragic explosion on 10 December.
The defendants, Advocate Thomas argued, acted “on the basis there was an urgent need” to reconnect the Yacht Club’s gas supply – despite the fact that the reconnection “was not a procedure that should be rushed, given the risks involved”.
Jamie A’Court, a technician who had worked for Island Energy since 2000 at the time of the explosion, told jurors during his evidence on Monday that he attended the Yacht Club on 9 December to confirm that the gas was lost and help work out how it could be restored.
Under cross-examination yesterday, Mr A’Court was asked by Advocate Rui Tremoceiro, defending Mr Armstrong, if “everyone” at Island Energy understood there to be “urgency” in restoring gas supply to the Yacht Club?
“That’s correct,” the witness stated. “The way [the chef] was coming across is that he wanted the gas on.
“I remember him being French – quite stocky, aggressive – and him wanting to have his gas put back on, but I didn’t get involved in the politics.”
Mr A’Court later told Advocate Mike Preston, representing Island Energy, that it was rare for gas to be reconnected to a facility like the Yacht Club at such short notice.
“An unplanned reconnection of gas to a commercial premises was not something that happened very often, was it?’, the defence lawyer asked.
“No,” Mr A’Court responded, who confirmed that it was an “unusual” piece of work.
“In your experience of this sort of work, it would be planned?” Advocate Mark Boothman, representing Mr Wright continued.
“Yes, correct”, the Island Energy technician stated, adding that he would consider the gas reconnection to be a “non-routine operation” requiring a “method statement”.
Re-examining the witness later that morning, Advocate Thomas, prosecuting, asked him what meant by a“non-routine operation?”.
“That there is loads of paperwork that has to be signed off”, Mr A’Court stated. “And everything has to be done [according] to a long method statement before any work happens and stuff.”
“Was that what had to be done before the explosion, or have things changed since then?”, the prosecutor asked.
“I don’t know what the rules were back then, it wasn’t my department”, Mr A’Court replied.
Mr A’Court’s supervisor, Louis Savage – an operations service lead for Island Energy on 10 December 2022 – was then called to the stand to give evidence.
Mr Savage told the jury that he was under the impression that a Christmas party was planned at the Yacht Club on 9 December, which informed the decision to restore their gas supply.
“We were trying to restore the gas before party started,” he explained to Advocate Thomas. “Before the big dinner.”
He was asked why he told the Yacht Club manager that their gas would be restored by the time of the “party”, despite the “complexities” of the reconnection process.
Mr Savage replied that he had been given the green light by Mr Armstrong.
“We didn’t think it was as big a job as I was”, he told jurors.
He added that after the Haut du Mont explosion the following morning, he immediately went to the Island Energy “yard” after being released by the fire service.
The court heard that he saw Mr Armstrong standing “by the doorway to his office”, looking “distressed” and with his “head in his hands”.
He said that the defendant asked him: “Anyone been hurt up at the site?”, to which he lied, telling Mr Armstrong that he “didn’t know”.
“Did you know?”, the prosecutor enquired.
“The building was gone, so I had a good idea, yes”, Mr Savage said.
He went on tell the court that Mr Armstrong “went to tell [him] something”, but Mr Savage responded: “Don’t tell me, go into the office and tell them.”
“Why did you stop him?”, Advocate Thomas asked.
“I’m not important enough to be told,” he replied.
Jurors were told that Mr Savage visited Mr Armstrong later that day “to see how his welfare was” and found his colleague “sitting in a shipping container”.
“He was white, stressed, quiet, shivering,” Mr Savage recalled. “I said that someone needs to get him in [the office] and not leave him out there.”
Commissioner Andrew Oldland is presiding.
The trial continues.
