Killing verdict quashed (From Hereford Times)

Killing verdict quashed

12:05pm Tuesday 15th January 2008 in News By Bill Tanner

A HIGH Court judge has ordered a fresh inquest into the deaths of two men who died when lethal gas leaked into their work area at a Hereford factory.

Stuart Jordan, 50, and Richard Clarkson, 29, suffocated in a concrete furnace inspection pit at Bodycote HIP Ltd - a company specialising in intensified heat treatment for metal machinery. Two years ago, the jury at an inquest in Hereford said both men were unlawfully killed by "gross negligence" in the way the company enforced health and safety standards.

On Monday (Jan 14) Bodycote challenged that verdict at the High Court, lawyers for the company said the jury received inadequate directions on key issues in the case.

The High Court heard how production processes at the Holmer plant involved the use of Argon gas which - if introduced in large quantities - can cause asphyxiation.

The bodies of Mr Jordan, the site's works manager, and Mr Clarkson, the works engineer, were found in the pit on June 14 2004.

Although both men were trained to work with Argon, the High Court heard on Monday that the gas is "particularly awkward" coming in a colourless and odourless form.

Mr Justice Blake agreed to quash the verdict, ordering a fresh inquest before a new jury. He left it for the Herefordshire coroner, David Halpen, to decide whether he should preside over the next inquiry.

The judge said the coroner had had to deal with intensely complex areas of the law, but concluded that the jury's verdicts could not stand "in light of the insufficient directions given by the coroner".