FIREFIGHTERS responding to reports of a “strong smell” of gas at Haut du Mont on the night prior to the explosion spent a total of six minutes checking for a leak before leaving the site, jurors heard yesterday.
On 25 September 2025, the States Employment Board pleaded guilty to two offences contrary to the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989
The pleas relate to the both the Emergency Services Control Centre and the Fire and Rescue Service failing to ensure the safety of its employees and members of the public.
Giving evidence at the ongoing Haut du Mont explosion trial on Tuesday, teenager Pedro De Freitas told the court that he called 999 on 9 December 2022 after noticing the presence of gas in the Pier Road area.
Mr De Freitas, who was 14 at the time, phoned the emergency services at 8.35pm and told the call-handler that the smell was so strong that he could not breathe.
The court heard that the young man and his two friends met the fire service when they arrived at the scene several minutes later. The three teenagers then remained in the vicinity until the firefighters left.
“I was surprised by how little they did,” he told the jury. “I assumed they’d be knocking on doors because there may have bene people sleeping – that confuses me to his day.”
John Lloyd, who was appointed as crew commander for the States of Jersey fire service in 2015, led the crew that arrived to Haut du Mont on the evening of 9 December.
It was heard that his team, which consisted of five firefighters, were dispatched to the scene at 8.41pm in response to the call from Mr De Freitas six minutes earlier.
At 8.44pm, the crew were made aware by the ESCC of a “further call” from a resident of 28 Haut du Mont who had reported smelling gas.
Mr Lloyd confirmed that the fire service got to Haut du Mont at 8.45pm. He met Mr De Freitas and his two friends and thanked them for reporting the gas.
He was quickly made aware of a “definite smell of gas”, but told the jury that he was “not concerned” because it was “just a smell of gas on the road”.
Crown Advocate Paul Lee, prosecuting, asked him whether he had asked the three teenagers to help locate the “exact” area in which they smelt the gas.
“Not that I can remember,” he responded. “I took it that they smelt gas on the road because that is what came in as the initial call.
“When I approached them asking if they’d made the call, I presumed that was where they had smelt the gas.”
He explained that he then sent one member of his team to La Collette to check for gas, while two others headed towards the Pier Road car park to conduct their checks.
Mr Lloyd said that, in the meantime, he spoke to several residents standing on the balcony of a first floor flat at Haut du Mont. They told him they could not smell gas and did not have any gas appliances in their property.
Advocate Lee asked the commander if he went on to check for a leak at Flat 28 – where residents had reported a smell of gas at 8.44pm.
“No I did not,” he replied. “Because I had no cause to, as I believed there was no gas within any of the properties and that the smell of gas came from outside the property.”
“Did you instruct any of your crew to enter any of those buildings?”, Advocate Lee asked.
“No I did not”, the witness said.
Advocate Lee said it was agreed that the gas detection devices used by the firefighting team on December 9 were not fit for use.
He explained that the devices were for “personal protection” and had not been calibrated to recognise propane – which was the gas that had leaked at Haut du Mont.
Jurors were told that neither of the three firefighters using the gas detection devices picked up “any trace” of gas near Haut du Mont during their search of the surrounding area.
It was then heard that “in a matter of about six minutes” following the crew’s arrival at the social housing block to meet Mr De Freitas, Mr Lloyd decided to leave the site and heard towards the excavation area outside commercial buildings.
The witness told the court that, once at the excavation site, he “personally didn’t smell any gas”, but that his colleague “thought he smelt gas”.
But he added that the gas detection devices were still not picking up any trace of gas, so a “stop” message was sent to the emergency control services to close the investigation down.
Mr Lloyd explained that the “stop” message was sent because he felt “that there [was] no more resources required” to resolve the incident.
In a further agreed fact, Advocate Lee said that emergency services control room had requested that Island Energy send a duty engineer to the site at 8.49pm.
But after the “stop” message, Mr Lloyd relayed a further message advising that the Island Energy operative be stood down.
“I think you can stand them down,” he told the emergency services control room in a message read out to jurors. “The smell occasionally comes back, the area of works that they’re working on…erm is clear..so I think you can stand them down over.”
When Island Energy duty engineer Leigh Hunt arrived at the excavation site, he was told that no gas had been detected on Pier Road or directly outside Haut du Mont.
Advocate Rui Tremoceiro, representing Neil Armstrong, asked Mr Lloyd: “With hindsight, do you accept that your enquires that night were inadequate?”
“I felt that I had completed my task of trying to locate the gas,” he answered.
Neil Armstrong (58), John Wright (60) and Lee Ward (59) 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.
Commissioner Andrew Oldland is presiding.
The trial continues.
