Three former Island Energy employees have been charged with gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the Pier Road explosion which claimed the lives of 10 islanders, following what has been described as the “largest and most complex” investigation in Jersey police history.
Neil Armstrong (56), Lee Ward (57), and John Wright (59) each face 10 counts of gross negligence manslaughter – one for each person who lost their life as a result of the blast at the Andium-run Haut de Mont flats on 10 December 2022.
The three men were formally charged at police headquarters this week and are due to appear in the Magistrate’s Court on 14 March.
At the time of the explosion, all three men worked for Jersey’s gas supplier, Island Energy.
“Largest and most complex investigation”
The charges follow a two-year investigation costing more than £11m by the States of Jersey Police.
Dubbed Operation Spire, the probe saw a dedicated Major Incident Room set up at Police headquarters, with around 30 officers and staff working on the case.
Operation Spire involved more than 2,000 lines of enquiry. Police took more than 1,100 statements were taken, and nearly 2,000 exhibits – including fragments of gas pipe – were examined.
The police team involved in Operation Spire used the forensic expert services of the Health and Safety Executive Science and Research Centre in Buxton to examine key pieces of evidence taken from the scene.
They also used a system called HOLMES (the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System), which is used nationally on major incidents and high-profile cases.
Three men were arrested in August 2023 in relation to the Haut de Mont explosion and police interviews subsequently took place.
In July 2024, initial case files were completed and submitted to Jersey’s Law Officers Department for consideration of charges.
Detective Superintendent Alison Fossey previously told Express that the scale and complexity of the incident – proportionate to the size of the Island and the police force – was equivalent to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London.
Today, she described Operation Spire as “the largest and most complex in the force’s 70-year history”.
Remembering the islanders who lost their lives
The explosion entirely collapsed a three-storey block on Pier Road.
In September 2023, an order was signed allowing for the demolition of the most severely damaged buildings left standing at the site of the blast.
Plans for a permanent memorial on the site, potentially in the form of a garden, are currently in the works.
Housing Minister Sam Mézec said that a planning application regarding the future of the Haut du Mont site was due to be submitted in early 2025 and it was confirmed last month that the Government would acquire the site from Andium on behalf of the public.
A temporary memorial remains at Mount Bingham.
The 10 islanders who lost their lives were:
- Peter Bowler (72)
- Raymond Brown (71)
- Romeu and Louise De Almeida (67 and 64)
- Derek and Sylvia Ellis (61 and 73)
- Ken and Jane Ralph (72 and 71)
- Billy Marsden (62)
- Kathy McGinness (73) – who was injured in the explosion and later died in hospital on Christmas Day 2022.
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