Statement from the family of Stephanie Hammacott



This is a very private family, thrust into the public gaze under the most tragic of circumstances. Stephanie was simply walking along the pavement on her way to school when her whole world came to an end. She has been survived by her 2 older sisters and her parents, for whom life must continue. But in essence nothing will ever be the same again.
 
We have agonised over the many details which have been discussed at the Inquest into our daughter’s death this week. We have listened to all the evidence considered by the jury, and welcome their findings, which concluded in particular that gas escaped from a fracture of the gas main outside no.4 Bulteel Gardens “due to insufficient support below and pressure from above”. The technical evidence of the Health and Safety Executive revealed an apparent failure to support the pipeline, which was the responsibility of Wales and West Utilities (the gas pipeline operator). The jury also heard that when the broken pipe was located the investigators found there had been a previous excavation by South West Water a matter of less than 10 inches away from the gas pipe: whilst excavating to remove the broken gas main they discovered “very loose stone” and concluded it was “a high probability” that the reinstatement had been a “very significant factor” which had contributed to the fracture.
 
It was quite plain to us that a significant number of other failings on the part of the water and gas companies have been identified, some of which may have further contributed. This includes the drilling of a number of holes which were sunk into the pavement nearby and left open for more than 10 years.
 
It appears that all iron gas mains are now being replaced. This comes too late of course for Stephanie. Serious questions remain to be addressed about the way in which this replacement work was prioritised.
 
We recognise that public utility companies provide a valuable service to the community. We receive the benefits of those services and pay our bills. In return for this, we expect these companies to take seriously their obligations to maintain their pipelines and keep them in good repair. We expect them to keep us safe. In this they failed.  Last January our Steph paid the price of their failure.
 
We are painfully aware that nothing which has been said or done can rectify what has happened. Stephanie has been robbed of a life. Any parent who reflects upon this must scarcely dare to imagine what it was like at the scene. We pray that no other family will ever have to suffer what we have been through. There is no such thing as an acceptable number of explosions: the loss of one child is one loss too many.
 
We want to pay our sincere thanks to the members of the local Constabulary and Coroners Office for their unwavering support and sympathetic handling of this investigation. This event must also have been extremely harrowing for them, and for those members of the public and the various emergency services who attended the scene and bravely tried to help. The family would like to express a heartfelt thank you to all who did so, and to those who have subsequently sought to provide some comfort in the aftermath of these events.
 
We are indebted to our legal team for their hard work on our behalf: Paul White and Michelle Boulton of Wolferstans have worked meticulously in gathering substantial additional information and analysing all the evidence, the various regulations and codes of practice which have been in existence over the past few decades; and Dr. Michael Powers QC who undertook a detailed analysis of the evidence and carefully questioned all the witnesses at the Inquest. Their compassionate approach and dedicated efforts have helped us through these difficult past months.
 
The elderly occupants of No. 4 Bulteel Gardens Ron and Renee Cloke somehow managed to survive the blast. Quite how they did so we cannot really absorb, but when we learned this we were relieved for them. It must have been terrible for them to witness the destruction of their home and a lifetime of possessions.
 
Some things can simply never be replaced. Our daughter can never be replaced. We shall forever remember Stephanie as a bubbly girl, full of fun and mischief.
 
We miss our Steph. We loved her when she was with us. We always will.
 
Paul Hammacott
Carol Hammacott
and the girls
 
27 February 2009