Gleision: Families granted full inquest into men’s mining deaths

December 22 2022

10 years after the Gleision Mining Disaster, the families of Charles Breslin, David Powell, Phillip Hill and Garry Jenkins have finally succeeded in having the inquests resumed, following their suspension pending the criminal investigation into the mine owner and mine manager which resulted in acquittals.

In resuming the inquest, the Senior Coroner for Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot accepted that it was arguable that the Health and Safety Executive and the Coal Authority failed to enforce the regulatory regime in force for the decade prior to the disaster and that these failures may have contributed to the deaths.  In particular, the Coroner accepted that there was evidence of longstanding illegal working at the mine.  The inquest will therefore discharge the procedural duty pursuant to article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lloyd Williams KC and Christian J Howells represent the families of Mr Breslin, Mr Powell and Mr Jenkins.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64041684 

https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2022-12-21/full-inquest-into-gleision-mine-disaster-will-go-ahead