Jurors considering verdicts in the trial of three Island Energy workers accused of gross negligence manslaughter have been told they are “under no pressure of time”.

Commissioner Andrew Oldland gave the reassurance to the 12-strong jury, which retired yesterday after receiving legal directions on how to assess the evidence.

Neil Armstrong (58), John Wright (60) and Lee Ward (59) each deny ten counts of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the Haut du Mont explosion on 10 December 2022.

Jersey Gas, which trades as Island Energy, also faces two alleged breaches of health-and-safety law concerning its duties towards employees and the public.

The case against the three men centres on gas being reintroduced into the network without a pressure test the day before the fatal blast.

Mr Oldland stressed that nobody suggested the workers intended to cause the explosion.

“That is not what this case is about: it is not about intention, or even recklessness, it is about negligence,” he said.

He told jurors that Mr Armstrong and Mr Wright accept negligently failing to carry out the test, but Mr Ward does not. All three deny gross negligence.

Jurors must consider whether a serious and obvious risk of death was reasonably foreseeable and whether any breaches were sufficiently serious to amount to gross negligence.

The defence argues that Mr Armstrong faced staffing shortages and workload pressures, while Mr Wright was instructed not to conduct the test and worked in a “toxic” environment.

Mr Ward’s defence is that he arrived late, with limited knowledge of the work, and was entitled to defer to his colleagues.

The prosecution argues that workplace pressures could not excuse omitting a fundamental safety precaution, and that all three should have ensured the test took place.

For the company, jurors must consider whether it did everything reasonably practicable to prevent the explosion.

Island Energy’s defence says its procedures were adequate and employees departed from them.

The prosecution argues those procedures were confusing, inadequate and poorly implemented.