Three men and firm go on trial over blast
EVIDENCE from the Bosley Mill disaster will be heard as the trial of three men and the company they worked for begins today (Wednesday).
The trial, at Chester Crown Court, is expected to last at least 12 weeks, and follows a joint investigation by Cheshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive.
Four people died in the tragedy, which happened at Wood Flour Mills in July 2015.
Those who lost their lives were Derek Moore, 62, Dorothy Bailey, 62, Jason Shingler, 38, and Will Barks, 51.
Wood Treatment Ltd, based at Dane Mills, Tunstall Road, faces four charges of corporate manslaughter.
Director George Boden, 64, of Church Road, Mellor, is charged with four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Two other employees are also in the dock.
Philip Smith, 58, of Raglan Road, Macclesfield, and Peter Shingler, 56, of Tunstall Road, Bosley, both face a charge under section two of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Mr Boden and Wood Treatment Ltd also have a charge against them relating to the Health and Safety at Work Act.
All charges are denied by the defendants.
The trial begins a little later than anticipated as it had been scheduled for Monday, January 11.
A jury was sworn in on Tuesday, January 12, ahead of today’s opening.
A fire broke out at the mill, on Tunstall Road, on the morning of July 17, 2015, and then an explosion destroyed the fourstorey building.
It was reduced to rubble and a number of workers were also injured.
Firefighters were at the site of the explosion for more than a month.
On the second anniversary of the tragedy a memorial stone for those who died was laid in Bosley.