Family of dead Saltney man continue fight for justice

Oct 21 2010 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

TWO companies have pleaded guilty to charges relating to a workplace explosion that killed a dad-of-two.

Mark Wright, 37, of Wrekin Way, Saltney, died after suffering 90% burns when aerosols he was crushing in a baling machine exploded at Deeside Metal, Saltney, on April 12, 2005.

Jeyes of Mold, where the aerosols originated, admitted a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Deeside Metal pleaded guilty to a charge under the act as well as a charge under the Management of Health and SafetyŠatŠWorkŠregulations.

And while manslaughter charges were dropped in February against scrapyard manager Robert Roberts, 55, of Golftyn Drive, Connah’s Quay, he later admitted failing to take reasonable care of others, including Mr Wright, under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Since Mr Wright’s death, his mother Dorothy has battled to see someone made accountable.

She and her husband Douglas and Mark’s widow Andrea waited four years for an inquest, where the coroner recorded a narrative verdict rather than one of unlawful killing.

All three parties – Jeyes, Deeside Metal and Mr Roberts – will be sentenced at Mold Crown Court on December 13, where Mark’s mother Dorothy, founder member of Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK), will be holding a silent vigil.

Dorothy said: “The law has been changed to increase the levels of fines the courts can impose, but I read about a firm recently which was fined just £17,000 for a death at work.

“Hovis was fined the same amount after someone found a dead mouse in a loaf of bread.

“Is this what a working man’s life is worth?”