Charges brought against company who ran Bosley Mill

A company has been charged with corporate manslaughter after four people died in an explosion at a mill in Bosley.

The blast happened on 17 July 2015 at Wood Flour Mills killing Dorothy Bailey, 62, Jason Shingler, 38, Will Barks, 51, from Staffordshire and Derek Moore, 62, from Stoke-on-Trent

Wood Treatment Limited, at Wood Flour Mills in Tunstall Road, is facing four charges of corporate manslaughter and one charge under section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Representatives from the company have also been charged.

George Boden, 64, from Stockport, was charged with four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence and one charge under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Phillip Smith, 58, from Macclesfield, was charged under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act as was Peter Shingler, 56, who was from Bosley.

The CPS said in a statement: "The company, Mr Boden, and two others who were managers for the company, have also been charged with health and safety offences.

"These decisions were made following a careful review of all of the evidence presented to us by Cheshire Police as a result of their lengthy and complex joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive."

They will appear before Stockport Magistrates′ Court on 2 December 2019.