Inquest into the Gleision mining disaster will have 'laser-like focus', coroner says

An inquest into the deaths of four men killed in a mining disaster 13-years ago will be conducted with a "forensic and laser-like focus" a coroner has said.

The tragic incident occurred in Pontardawe, in South Wales, when Garry Jenkins, 39, Philip Hill, 44, David Powell, 50, and Charles Breslin, 62, were killed after thousands of gallons of water flooded the Gleision drift mine.

The inquest aims to answer key questions surrounding the case.

At the time of the disaster, seven men were working underground, but only three survived.

Malcolm Fyfield, the mine's site manager, and MNS Mining Ltd, the company that ran the mine, were acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter by a jury at Swansea Crown Court in 2014.

Following the trial, the families of the victims successfully campaigned for a full inquest into the deaths, which was opened in December 2022.

On Friday, a pre-inquest review hearing took place at Swansea Guildhall, overseen by Edward Ramsay, Assistant Coroner for Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

Mr Ramsay told the court that members of the victims’ families had attended the hearing in person and online.

He said: "I want to acknowledge them – their grief, their loss."

Adding: "I want to thank them for their attendance today. I want to reassure them. There will be nothing slip slop or perfunctory about this inquest.

“I am already of the view that this inquest needs a forensic and laser-like focus on answering where the water came from and who, if anyone, knew or ought to have known it was there.”

The coroner said he had been studying documents about the case including those relating to the criminal trial, and detailed maps of the area.

He told the court: “No stone will be left unturned. I will go wherever the evidence takes me.”

A further pre-inquest review hearing has been scheduled for 25 April next year, with further such hearings expected to take place before the full inquest.

The disaster happened after a routine blasting, and the families and friends of those trapped waited for hours inside Rhos Community Centre nearby as divers searched in vain for survivors in the murky, dark water.

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