Water firm pleads guilty after four killed in blast
A water company has pleaded guilty to health and safety charges after an explosion at one of its sites killed four workers, including a teenage apprentice.
Luke Wheaton, 16, Ray White, 57, Brian Vickery, 63, and Mike James, 64, died in the blast in a silo at Wessex Water's treatment site in Avonmouth, Bristol, in December 2020.
A police investigation into manslaughter was dropped in 2024 but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought its own charges earlier this year.
Judge Lynn Matthews referred the "complex and sensitive" case to Bristol Crown Court where sentencing was due to take place on 8 January.
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