Cheshire mill blast 'down to negligence by owners', jury told

Four people were killed in the Bosley mill explosion in July 2015

Author: Luke WilsonPublished 8th Feb 2021

A mill explosion which killed four workers happened because of negligence by the owners, jurors in a retrial have heard.

The blast at the wood mill in Bosley, Cheshire, on July 17 2015 killed cleaner Dorothy Bailey, 62, maintenance fitter Derek William Barks, known as Will, 51, mill worker Derek Moore, 62, and chargehand Jason Shingler, 38, whose body was never recovered.

The trial of Wood Treatment Ltd, mill director George Boden, 64, and managers Peter Shingler, 56, and Philip Smith, 58, opened at the Nightingale court at Chester Town Hall on Monday.

The defendants had originally gone on trial on January 25 but the jury was discharged on the fifth day of the hearing due to personal issues for the judge.

After a jury was selected from the original panel and sworn in on Monday, judge Mrs Justice May said: "Thank you for making yourselves available again.''

Tony Badenoch QC, prosecuting, said on the day of the explosion emergency services had been called to the site at 9.11am and one firefighter described arriving at "a scene like out of the movies, with devastation everywhere''.

The court heard maintenance fitter Peter Lea; mill worker Claire Louise Thorley; quality control technician Robert Lowe; and heavy goods vehicle driver Stuart Southern-Naylor were seriously injured.

The jury was shown CCTV of the moment the explosion happened and mobile phone footage showing fires and debris on the mill site following the blast.

The court heard the exact cause of the explosion was not known but could have been one of a range of scenarios, each of which involved a massive explosion of wood dust.

Mr Badenoch said:

"Whichever of those credible scenarios it is, the prosecution case is that each arose from negligence on the part of the company and the health and safety director George Boden.''

Wood Treatment Ltd has admitted a health and safety offence but denies four counts of corporate manslaughter while Boden, of Church Road, Stockport, denies four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and a health and safety offence.

Mill manager Shingler, of Tunstall Road, Bosley, and operations manager Smith, of Raglan Road, Macclesfield, both deny a health and safety offence.

The trial is expected to last three to four months.

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