Didcot power station police probe continues, inquest told

Rotherham men Ken Cresswell, 57 and John Shaw, 61, Michael Collings, 53, from Teesside, and 34-year-old Christopher Huxtable from Swansea were killed in the collapse of a boiler house at the power plant.

Det Supt Craig Kirby said his officers were looking into whether charges of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter or offences under 1974 health and safety legislation should be brought against the companies and individuals involved.

In a statement prepared for senior coroner Darren Salter and read to Oxford Coroner’s Court on Tuesday afternoon, the senior investigating officer on the joint Thames Valley Police and Health and Safety Executive investigation into the 2016 tragedy said his team had so far taken 2,429 witness statements and collected 180,000 'artefacts'.

Individuals and companies suspected of committing alleged offences had been interviewed under caution and, because of the complexity of the case, would likely be interviewed again.

An initial file was prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service in December 2017, although investigators are yet to send a final file.

The collapsed Didcot Power Station. Picture: Simon Williams

The collapsed buildings at Didcot power station in 2016 Picture: SIMON WILLIAMS

Mr Kirby said: “Given the complexity and scale of this investigation as described previously, I am unable to provide a completion date for this work.” He would ensure the coroner was updated.

Concluding a pre-inquest review, senior coroner Mr Salter said he would review the case in six months’ time.

Previous hearings at the coroner’s court have been told that at the time of the collapse on February 23, 2016, Coleman & Company was undertaking preparatory work for the demolition of the former coal-fired boiler house. RWE NPower closed that part of the plant in March 2013 after 43 years of service.

The rest of the boiler house was brought down by explosives in July 2016.

There were safety concerns over the rubble after the building collapsed. Before it was cleared, it was 55m long, up to 30m wide and 25m high.

It took more than six months for all the authorities to recover the bodies of all the men who died in the building collapse.

Mr Collings' body was found next to the collapsed building, a previous inquest heard.

Mr Shaw, Mr Huxtable and Mr Cresswell had undergone different identification processes after they were recovered from the wreckage of the former plant.

Mr Huxtable was identified by his fingerprints, while Mr Cresswell was identified from dental records. Mr Shaw was identified by his tattoos, his mobile phone and jewellery and clothing he was wearing.