Following consideration of a report submitted by the Procurator Fiscal in Glasgow, Crown Counsel have decided that ICL Plastics Limited and ICL Tech Limited will be prosecuted in the High Court, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, in connection with the fatal explosion in Maryhill, Glasgow, on 11 May 2004.
Working with Strathclyde Police and the Health and Safety Executive, the Procurator Fiscal in Glasgow led a joint investigation into this explosion, which resulted in the deaths of 9 people. A detailed initial report of the investigation was submitted to Crown Counsel in May 2005. Crown Counsel subsequently instructed a number of further, specific investigations before reaching the decision to prosecute.
The general nature of the allegations against the companies is that by failing to maintain pipes carrying hazardous gas(es) they failed in their duty under the Act to ensure the health and safety of their employees and other persons present on the premises. It is further alleged that the companies failed to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessment in relation to their employees
No date has yet been set for the trial.
Survivors, next of kin, and others directly affected by the explosion have been informed of this decision, and will continue to be kept informed by the Procurator Fiscal.
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Note to Editors:
- Proceedings are now live for the purposes of the Contempt of Court Act
- It is a matter of public record that the Lord Advocate has made it clear that there will be an inquiry, in public, into the circumstances and causes of this explosion. In order to avoid any possible prejudice to criminal proceedings, an inquiry can only happen once these proceedings are concluded.