Gas worker 'may have left valve open', trial hears

A gas worker told another member of staff that he had not done a test on a gas supply which later caused an explosion killing 10 people, a court has heard.

Commercial sales manager for Island Energy Andrew Robinson said Neil Armstrong had told him on the morning of the explosion that he "may have left the [gas] valve open" when on a job at Haut du Mont the day before.

Armstrong was part of the team who worked to restore gas to nearby properties after supplies were accidentally disconnected during work the day before the explosion on 10 December 2022.

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

Island Energy has also pleaded not guilty in a combined health and safety case.

Robinson told prosecuting Advocate Simon Thomas that Armstrong had been "upset" and "agitated" when he saw him early in the morning after the explosion, which occurred shortly before 04:00 GMT.

The court heard Robinson had been called to the Island Energy offices at about 05:00 and had spoken to Armstrong in his car where he told him that he "didn't test the gas main".

The prosecution told the jury last week that after the explosion happened, Armstrong told Robinson that he knew what had happened and that he had not put a pressure test on.

The residents who died were 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, and Kathy McGinness, 73.

Robinson told the prosecution that he was "quite shocked at the time" that no pressure test had been done to the pipes when gas was reintroduced.

"Its just a staple thing that we do in the industry… when we reconnect the supply… you always check the gas pipe before you introduce gas into the system.

"He said he'd left the valve open, he'd not plugged it, said he thought he'd been distracted when talking to a workman when there."

The court heard Robinson then relayed this information to Island Energy CEO at the time Jo Cox as it was "a crucial bit of knowledge - evidence for us what had happened at the incident".

Rui Tremoceiro, representing Armstrong, said the gas worker had not remembered the conversation with Robinson.

Robinson said: "When you drive past an incident like that it's etched on your brain exactly what was said to me that morning."

Tremoceiro asked Robinson why the conversation between the two men had not been mentioned in his first and second interview with police and he said it was because he was being "mindful" of what he was saying and because he did not have a lawyer present.

"I was just carefully listening to questions and being careful what I said at that stage... they didn't particularly ask me about that at that point," Robinson said.

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