A GAS engineer accused of manslaughter over the Haut du Mont explosion was paid a bonus to stay with Island Energy a month after the disaster, jurors heard yesterday.
Advocate Olaf Blakeley argued on Tuesday that Lee Ward (59) was not a grossly negligent worker but a “perfect employee” – a man repeatedly described by colleagues as “meticulous” and “safety-conscious” who should never have been put on trial.
In his closing speech at the Royal Court’s temporary courtroom at Jubilee Wharf, Advocate Blakeley argued that Mr Ward had played only a minor role in the “exceptionally bad” gas works that allegedly caused the fatal gas explosion on 10 December 2022.
Mr Ward (59), who joined Island Energy in 2008 and became a team leader in 2019, denies ten counts of gross-negligence manslaughter, as do co-defendants Neil Armstrong (58) and John Wright (60).
The three men worked on Island Energy’s network operations team, which had been tasked with disconnecting the gas supply to Haut du Mont on 9 December 2022 by cutting a main buried beneath the road below the flats.
Prosecutors allege that the men carried out the work in a manner that was “exceptionally bad” – making the “utterly reprehensible” decision to restore the gas supply without carrying out a pressure test to check for leaks in the pipework leading to the flats.
In his closing speech on Monday, Crown Advocate Simon Thomas argued that the men had ignored a “serious and obvious” risk of death by restoring the supply without the safety test.
But Advocate Blakeley argued that the prosecution had failed to prove Mr Ward was responsible for those decisions – or that he had been negligent at all.
Speaking animatedly and looking directly at the jury, he began: “You haven’t heard much from me in comparison to the other advocates. And there is a very good reason for that.
“And that reason is that Mr Ward plays a very small part in all of this. He was only there for a couple of hours.”
He added: “He shouldn’t even be here. He shouldn’t be standing trial.”
Advocate Blakeley divided his closing speech into five “chapters”, taking jurors through his client’s employment history, the evidence of former colleagues and the legal test for gross-negligence manslaughter.
Throughout, he drew heavily on evidence from the prosecution’s own witnesses, many of whom had praised Mr Ward’s approach to safety and described him as a “meticulous” worker.
Among them was Island Energy’s former head of network operations, James Cherry, who once wrote in an appraisal: “Your general attitude and safety-conscious attitude are 100%”.
Advocate Blakeley argued that their accounts supported what he called the “perfect employee principle” – a careful, conscientious worker who took safety seriously and followed procedures.
He also pointed to evidence that Mr Ward had previously used Island Energy’s stop-work procedure, known as the red-card policy, to halt work over safety concerns – arguing that this was further evidence of his commitment to safety.
The court also heard that Mr Ward received a retention bonus in January 2023, just a month after the disaster, and remains employed by Island Energy.
Turning to the events of 9 December 2022, Advocate Blakeley said Mr Ward had arrived at the excavation site at Commercial Buildings at around 4pm, after his co-defendants had mistakenly cut the wrong gas main while attempting to disconnect Haut du Mont.
The men were then working to reconnect the pipe and restore the gas supply to customers, including St Helier Yacht Club, which had been cut off as a result of the mistake.
Although normally a team leader, Mr Ward had arrived to replace a junior assistant and was helping to prepare materials and hand over tools in the role of a “mate”, his lawyer argued.
Advocate Blakeley stressed that the planning and key decisions had already been made before his client arrived, and argued that Mr Ward could not be held responsible for directing work when he was acting in a junior role.
The prosecution, however, alleged that Mr Ward’s experience meant he should have recognised the danger of restoring the gas supply without a pressure test and intervened to stop the work.
But Advocate Blakeley argued there was no evidence Mr Ward knew that Island Energy managing director Clive Doyle had instructed Mr Armstrong to carry out the safety test – adding: “Failing to issue a red card isn’t negligence.”
The advocate also made repeated reference to Mr Ward’s police interview – in which he described refusing to rush the preparation of a pipe despite “pressure” from Mr Armstrong.
“Neil was in a rush because he wanted the pipe and he wanted to take the pipe off me, but I wouldn’t let it go,” Mr Ward told officers.
Advocate Blakeley argued that this was consistent with the descriptions of his client given by former colleagues.
Concluding his speech, he said: “When you return your verdicts, they should be not guilty.”
Commissioner Andrew Oldland is due to deliver his instructions to the jury today.
The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdicts on Thursday.
