Haut Du Mont Trial: Safety Officer ‘would’ve stopped the job’ if told truth about test

The Safety and Compliance Officer at Island Energy on the night of the fatal Haut du Mont explosion in December 2022 says if he'd known a leak test hadn’t been carried out before reintroducing gas to the network, he ‘would have stopped the job.’

Instead, James Johnstone, who continued giving his evidence in Jersey's Royal Court today (17 September), was not only lied to about a test being done, he said that former island energy worker Neil Armstrong even told him a specific pressure it was tested at.

Mr Armstrong and his team were reintroducing gas into the network after cutting a pipe in the wrong place earlier on the same day (9 December) meaning multiple properties lost supply, including the Yacht Club. 

A court has previously heard that no pressure test - which would have identified a leak - was carried out before turning the gas back on. 

Mr Johnstone told the jury that Mr Armstrong 'said it was carried out at 70 millibars', when asked on the evening of 9 December.

He said he had 'no reason to think that a test hadn’t been carried out' because of that information.

During the prosecution opening statement earlier in the trial, Crown Advocate Simon Thomas alleged Mr Armstrong lied to his bosses on two occasions that the test had been carried out. 

The court previously heard that no pressure test had been done on the network, meaning gas was leaking into the Haut Du Mont flats for around 10 hours before being ignited just before 4am on 10 December, causing an explosion that killed ten residents.

Neil Armstrong (centre) at a previous court appearance

Mr Johnstone told the jury that, in the hours after the blast and after visiting what he described as the 'devastation' of the site, he went to the Island Energy Office. 

He said that a 'very distressed' Mr Armstrong told him 'I think I know what's happened.'

He told the jury that Mr Armstrong said a few times, within the space of ten minutes, that 'he got distracted, took a phone call and may have left an ECV  (Emergency Control Valve) open.'

Mr Johnstone said that, upon hearing this, his 'stomach dropped'. He recalled thinking: 'He’s tested it, how on earth can he have left an ECV open?… If an ECV had been left open... it would have failed the pressure test."

He didn’t say this to Mr Armstrong at the time, who he said was ‘distraught enough,’ and he didn't immediately pass on what Mr Armstrong said to other colleagues because it was 'from a very distressed man' and he was trying to prevent a 'blame culture.'

Mr Armstrong, along with colleagues John Wright and Lee Ward, pleads not guilty to 10 counts of gross negligence manslaughter, with their ex-employer, Island Energy, denying breaches of health and safety law.

The trial continues.

Read our full coverage of the trial here:

Haut Du Mont trial: Worker told colleague he 'didn't test' gas main

Haut du Mont trial: Island Energy 'placed health and safety at risk'

Haut Du Mont Trial: 'It could explode', jury hears 999 calls

Haut Du Mont Trial: Worker checking gas valves spent almost 'entire' time on his phone

Haut Du Mont Trial: Gas works were 'sloppy, unsafe, and cut corners', allege prosecutors

Haut du Mont trial: Explosion 'an incident waiting to happen'

Haut du Mont trial begins