Transco fined £15m for killer gas blast

• A large gas explosion destroyed a house in Lanarkshire in 1999

• A family of four were killed in the blast

• Transco have been fined a record 15 million for the incident

Key quote

"There was no evidence at all in this case that such an internal leak had occurred. That aspect of the defence by the company serves only to demonstrate that the corporate mind of Transco has little or no remorse for this tragedy which, they ought at least now to accept, was exclusively their own creation." - Lord Carloway

Story in full THE gas supply company Transco was fined a record 15 million yesterday after being convicted of gross and numerous safety breaches which led to the deaths of a family of four in an explosion.

As well as imposing the heavy financial penalty - the previous biggest fine in UK health and safety law had been 2 million - the judge, Lord Carloway, poured withering condemnation on the firm's lack of remorse.

The blast in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, in 1999 which claimed the lives of Andrew Findlay, 34, his wife Janette, 37, and their children, Stacey, 13, and Daryl, 11, had been caused by a leak from a severely corroded gas main outside their home.

But during a marathon trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, in which the prosecutor suggested Transco had put profits before safety, the company had tried to put the blame on an internal pipe leak, something for which it was not responsible.

Lord Carloway said that that attempt was "despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including the views of their own employees on site after the explosion".

He added: "There was no evidence at all in this case that such an internal leak had occurred. That aspect of the defence by the company serves only to demonstrate that the corporate mind of Transco has little or no remorse for this tragedy which, they ought at least now to accept, was exclusively their own creation."

The jury's unanimous guilty verdict against Transco, which made a profit of 390 million last year, was greeted with screams from relatives of the Findlay family, some of whom broke down and sobbed.

Later, they issued a statement saying: "We are pleased with today's verdict which means Drew, Janette, Stacey and Daryl can now rest in peace. They remain forever loved and forever missed.

"The verdict does not change the fact that our two families will never be the same. However, we take some small comfort from the hope this verdict brings, that no other family should ever suffer as we have. We only ever wanted truth and justice."

The Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, QC, believed that Transco's failings had shown "a complete and utter disregard for the safety of the public" and he had wanted to prosecute the company on a charge of culpable homicide.

It would have been the first "corporate killing" trial in Scotland, but Transco persuaded appeal judges to dismiss the charge, which named no individual director or employee.

The Crown was left with a charge under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act which, although not carrying the same condemnation as culpable homicide, also exposed Transco on conviction to an unlimited fine.

Transco said after yesterday's verdict: "What happened at Larkhall in December 1999 was a terrible tragedy and our thoughts remain to this day with the families and community who were so affected by it.

"The company is disappointed with the verdict and will now consider the judgment in detail prior to deciding whether or not to take any further action."

The Larkhall main was laid in 1973, but Transco's records were in such disarray that some sections were said to have been laid in the 1980s and some in the 1990s, and it was stated that stretches of the pipe were made of polyethylene and not ductile iron.

For years before the blast, it had been known in the industry that ductile iron was susceptible to corrosion in certain soil types within ten years of being laid.

There had been a number of explosions in England which highlighted the problem, and while Transco resolved to take pro-active measures to address the risks, it failed to increase significantly the level of ductile iron replacement.

The advocate-depute, Frank Mulholland, QC, in his closing speech to the jury, submitted that from 1988 until the Larkhall tragedy, Transco had replaced "a derisory amount of ductile iron, far less than was required to deal with the problem."

Over several years, a number of gas escapes from the main had been reported by members of the public, but no steps had been taken to determine the extent of corrosion that had occurred or the likely rate of corrosion.

The courtroom was dominated by ten sections of the 10in-diameter pipe which had been recovered after the explosion.

"The public trusted Transco to respond appropriately when they realised their mains were unsafe. They also trusted Transco to have accurate records of what they had in the ground. In this case, it is quite clear that this trust was misplaced. This was an accident waiting to happen," said Mr Mulholland.

Lord Carloway said that the warnings about ductile iron had been heeded to some extent because Transco stopped laying new mains made of it. However, old and potentially corroded mains were still in use, and about 2,000km of pipe was laid in built-up areas.

Cast iron pipes, which posed an even greater danger because of fracturing, were already being replaced at a cost running into billions of pounds.

"During the period up until the explosion at Larkhall, substantial sections of the public were exposed to significant danger from corroded and corroding ductile iron mains in close proximity to their homes and workplaces," said Lord Carloway.

"Transco were well aware that sections might already be corroded and that this could cause a leak and result in a serious incident, potentially involving multiple fatalities. That, of course, is precisely what did happen in 1999 when the explosion killed the entire Findlay family."

It was of some note, said the judge, that in the mid-1990s there had been sharp staff cuts and other cost-saving exercises throughout the company. Billions were being spent on re-organising the structure of the company.

In the three years after the tragedy, Transco had replaced ductile iron within 30 metres of property at a cost of about 345 million, and Lord Carloway said such prompt and costly action should be taken into account in fixing the appropriate penalty.

LONG PATH TO JUSTICE

At 5:30am on 23 December, 1999, gas in the Findlay home in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, ignites, ripping apart the building and killing Andrew Findlay, 34, his wife Janette, 37, and their children Stacey, 13, and Daryl, 11.

In August 2000, after a spate of rail crashes and boat sinkings, the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, introduces a "culpable homicide" law that states a company's safety director can be sent to jail if it can be proved that corporate negligence is responsible for any fatal accidents.

In March 2002, in the first Scottish case under the new legislation, the Crown Office charges Transco with culpable homicide after an investigation finds faulty pipes and poor maintenance responsible for blast. Experts in Scots law say the case will set a precedent.

In June 2003, the culpable homicide charge is dropped after three senior Scottish judges rule that the prosecution failed to name an individual at Transco who could fulfil the legal definition of "safety director". The prosecution proceeds under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Family members say they feel "sickened" by the decision.

In February of this year, the case goes to court. It takes six months for lawyers to present some 260 prosecution witnesses and 1,450 documents listed for the trial.