Teen who called firefighters on eve of Haut du Mont explosion “surprised by how little they did”

A 14-year-old boy who called 999 after a powerful smell of gas left him coughing near Haut du Mont on the evening before the fatal explosion said he was “surprised” by how little firefighters appeared to do when they arrived.

Pedro De Freitas, who is now 18 years old, told the Royal Court yesterday that he and his friends watched the crew from a road above the flats for around half an hour on the evening before the blast that killed ten people.

“I was surprised by how little they did,” he said. “I assumed they’d be knocking on doors because there may have been people sleeping – that confuses me to this day.”

Mr De Freitas, who was 14 at the time of the incident on 10 December 2022, was giving evidence during the third week of the Haut du Mont trial.

Three Island Energy employees – Neil Armstrong (58), Lee Ward (59) and John Wright (60) – are standing trial after pleading not guilty to ten counts of gross negligence manslaughter.

Jersey Gas, trading as Island Energy, is also on trial for two breaches of health and safety law.

“Very very strong” smell of gas

Mr De Freitas said that after he and his friends had smelled gas, they had spoken to a couple who were walking their dog before phoning the emergency services at 8.35pm.

A recording of the call was played to the jury, with the boy coughing as he told the call-handler that the smell was “very very strong” and that “I can’t breathe”.

Mr De Freitas told the court that he had agreed to wait and meet a fire crew which arrived at the scene minutes later.

The court heard that the three friends had remained at the scene, watching from the road above the Haut du Mont flats, for around half an hour until the firefighters left.

The explosion took place around seven hours later, at 3.53am on Saturday 10 December.

“I don’t want to end up in the dock with you one day”

Earlier in the day, the court heard that a senior Island Energy manager had told the company’s chief executive that “I don’t want to end up in the dock with you one day”.

Former head of network operations James Cherry said the conversation with chief executive Jo Cox and another senior executive had taken place in early 2022 after a difference of opinion over training cuts and the failure to investigate an incident involving a tanker that had, in his opinion, raised health and safety concerns.

Mr Cherry said team leaders in Jersey should have been given Safe Control of Operations (SCO) training, but that in reality he had been the only Jersey-based employee with this qualification for 2021 and large parts of 2022.

He admitted he was “annoyed” when moves were initiated about SCO training in late December of 2022, more than two weeks after the incident at Haut du Mont.

This frustration was exacerbated because one of those who died was a close family friend, he added.

Mr Cherry said he had handed in his notice and been due to leave his employment in the middle of 2022, but was persuaded to stay on a month-by-month basis.

Asked by Advocate Olaf Blakeley, representing Mr Ward, if he regretted not having left the company at the end of his original notice period, he said: “A good friend of mine died [in the explosion] so yes – 1,000% I regret it.”

“We were told not to spend money on training”

In his second day at the witness box, Mr Cherry, who worked for the company for 19 years, said he had been off-Island at the time of the explosion due to attending a friend’s funeral.

He said that he had been willing to take calls while he was away and had spoken to Mr Armstrong on the afternoon of Friday 9 December, when he was assured that work to reconnect supply to a group of customers, including the St Helier Yacht Club, was “in-hand”.

As part of his role, Mr Cherry said he had been expected to put forward recommendations for training, and that in September 2022 he had recommended that SCO training should be given, as the departure of the company’s technical training officer in late 2020 meant he was the only person with such accreditation.

Although SCO was given to several members of staff in the Isle of Man in 2019, Mr Cherry said that a similar exercise had not been carried out in Jersey as a result of spending cuts during the Covid/lockdown period.

“We were told not to spend money on training and projects and there were discussions about cutting salaries,” he said. “We couldn’t raise purchase orders and were told we were not allowed to book anything.”

A “blanket ban” on spending

The court heard that during the pandemic the company had imposed 20% salary cuts on its employees and Mr Cherry had been unable to approve requests for new tools and equipment due to a “blanket ban” on spending.

Mr Cherry said he was annoyed by the fact that senior colleagues had not approved his request for a budget for training, although no specific objections had been expressed to him.

He added that he had been told in late December by the company’s chief executive to book the training.

“I found it frustrating that budgets [for training] were submitted but never carried out,” he said.

In the aftermath of the explosion, Mr Cherry said there had been a direction from the chief executive that SCO training should be carried out as soon as possible.

Commissioner Andrew Oldham is presiding. The trial continues.