'Major smell of gas' reported before explosion

One of 10 residents killed in a gas explosion at a block of flats phoned emergency services in the hours before the blast to report a "major smell of gas," a court has heard.

A health and safety case against gas company Island Energy (IE), represented by chief executive Graeme Millar, is being heard over the deaths of 10 residents at the Haut du Mont flats in St Helier, Jersey, following the blast on 10 December 2022. The company has pleaded not guilty to offences.

Gas workers Lee Ward, 59, Neil Armstrong, 58, and John Wright, 60, each deny 10 counts of gross negligence manslaughter.

A recording of the 999 call made by Louisa De Almeida, 64, who lived at 28 Haut du Mont, was played in court, in which she said she smelled gas in her home despite her not being a gas consumer.

"There's a major smell of gas out in front of the house and in my living room here," she told an operator, in a call at 20:43 GMT on Friday 9 December.

"It's really strong and I have nothing that is gas so that's why I was wondering maybe is there a leak close by outside."

Prosecuting, Advocate Simon Thomas, said De Almedia was told the fire service was on its way and, a member of the public walking past also reported "a very strong smell of gas" in another call at about 20:35.

The prosecution said, however, that the call from De Almeida was not processed correctly by the Emergency Control Room.

It said the fire service was not informed De Almeida had reported a gas smell inside her flat rather than solely outside it.

The court heard that, had her call been properly heard and recorded, the system used by the Fire Service Operator in the control room would have prompted him to evacuate the building, the incident would have categorised "high risk", and more fire crews would have been dispatched.

However, only a single fire crew was dispatched, and no investigation within the block, nor De Almeida's flat, was carried out, the court heard.

The court was also told gas monitors used were set to detect methane, when they should have been detecting propane/LPG and "produced incorrect readings".

"That error was a tragic missed opportunity," Thomas said.

The States Employment Board has pleaded guilty to offences under the Health and Safety law on behalf of the fire service and the control room in respect of those failings and is due be sentenced at a later date.

The residents who died included:

• 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
• Raymond Brown, 71
• Kathy McGinness, 73, who lived in a building adjacent to Haut du Mont, was taken to hospital and died on 25 December 2022

The prosecution said the explosion was the result of work by the gas engineers from the day before, and the defendants did not carry out crucial tests that would have shown gas was leaking into the flats.

Work on 9 December was due to cut off gas to the flats, but a pavement trench was not dug wide enough and they ended up cutting an incorrect section of pipe.

That cut gas to the St Helier Yacht Club and other nearby buildings, including Island Energy's own premises.

The prosecution also claimed Wright later told investigators there was not enough space to do the full job safely but Armstrong told him to "just get on with it".

Thomas said IE had a system in place "designed for such a situation" where an employee was entitled to demand that work stopped if they had safety concerns.

He said Wright did not practise those rights and "took these risks" to appease Armstrong.

Feeling under pressure to reconnect the pipes, Armstrong went to Haut du Mont to check gas valves, but prosecutors say he did not do this properly, pointing to phone records they said showed he was "preoccupied" with making calls, sending texts and emails instead of focusing on safety checks, which was "grossly negligent".

The prosecution told the jury that work done on the gas pipes was also "unrecognisable" when compared to industry standards.

Thomas said the defendants also did not follow the IE procedures, omitting "several important stages", including a mandatory pressure test.

The court heard the pipework was reconnected to the yacht club and Haut du Mont but, for the purpose of the charges of gross negligence manslaughter, all three defendants reintroduced gas without carrying out a pressure test.

A pressure test would have shown if there were any leaks or gas escapes in the pipework.

When signing off on the work done, a completed job report was filled out which questioned if work had been carried out "in accordance with IEG Codes of Practice", and the "pressure test applied" box was left blank.

However, the court heard a superior of Armstrong instructed a pressure test to be done and Armstrong replied in a text message it had and was "all good", which Thomas said was "plainly... a lie".

He said: "Mr Armstrong knew full well no pressure test had been carried out, yet he was prepared to lie to his immediate superior and pretend that it had been."

"Corners were cut and procedures were ignored," the court heard.

Thomas said that, although those deficiencies did not cause the explosion, it showed a disregard by Armstrong to follow procedures.

The prosecution also said IE did not properly supervise what was going on and there was no safe control of work system in place.

The court heard the explosion at 03:53 on Saturday 10 December was caused by "the uncontrolled escape of gas from the gas cupboard" at Haut du Mont.

The prosecution said expert investigation showed the explosion originated in De Almeida's flat and spread through the block's ground floor and to the upper floors.

The pressure associated with the explosion caused concrete blockwork to collapse downwards, the prosecution added.

The court was shown CCTV from Albert Pier which showed a large, orange fireball rising into the sky.

It also saw footage from a police officer's body-worn camera, which Thomas said gave "a sense of the devastation that met first responders".

The prosecution said at about 05:30, after the explosion, Armstrong told IE commercial sales manager Andrew Robinson: "I know what happened, I didn't put a test on.

"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."

The court also heard that at 23:30, Armstrong sent text messages to several individuals saying: "I am sorry for putting you through this."

The prosecution said that when Armstrong later spoke to investigators, he said: "So I'm thinking in my head did I put all the plugs back in... I'm pretty sure that I did.

"Otherwise when we reconnected you'd have an open end... But er, yeah. I'm sure I put everything back in as it was".

The case continues.

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