A widow who lost her husband in the Didcot Power Station collapse questioned why ‘no one has been brought to task’ – six years on from the tragedy.
Gail Cresswell’s husband, Ken, was one of the four men killed when the boiler house they were working to demolish collapsed on February 23, 2016. Mr Cresswell's body wasn't found until September that year.
Speaking on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the tragedy, Mrs Cresswell said: "The demolition industry needs answers to what went on at Didcot so that no other families are in his position again. My concern is that at six years, the investigation has gone on too long.
“Ken should be home with his family who love and miss him dearly; not laid on that hill. No one has been brought to task.
“Month after month, year after year, we're told again and again 'still no updates' by the family liaison officer.
Ken Cresswell Picture: FAMILY
“It's really, really hard what the families are being put through.
"We're just not getting anywhere and it's shocking that we're just told the same thing every six months.”
She added: "It would be too awful if something similar happened while we're waiting [for the investigation to conclude] and another family has to go through what we're going through.”
Guard of honour as Mr Cresswell's body leaves the Didcot power station site in September 2016 Picture: ED NIX
Six years on, the pain of losing her husband is still raw for Mrs Cresswell and her family.
“It's still like it happened yesterday as we're still living in it. Nobody should go to work and not come home," she said.
"Kenny loved his job but he worked to live, and life meant being with his family. We've three daughters and two grandkids and one of them was always off having an adventure with Kenny.
"No-one can imagine how much we miss him."
Relatives of Mr Cresswell outside Didcot Power Station in March 2016, in the wake of the tragedy Picture: UKNIP
Rotherham men Ken Cresswell, 57, and John Shaw, 61, 53-year-old Teesside man Michael Collings, and Christopher Huxtable, 34, from Swansea, were working on the demolition of Didcot A power station in February 2016 when part of the boiler house collapsed unexpectedly.
At a pre-inquest review last July, the senior Thames Valley Police officer investigating the power plant collapse said his team was looking at 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.
Didcot Power Station aerial taken by Lee Ingram of Air Experience.
The lengthy investigation had seen almost 2,500 witness statements taken and the officers had amassed 180,000 ‘artefacts’.
No date could be given for when the police probe would conclude.
Keith Cundall of legal firm Fieldfisher Manchester, who settled civil claims for three of the bereaved families including Mrs Cresswell, said: "My concern is that once again the families are being given limited information about the status of the investigations, and there is no end in sight for them.”
Police, Fire and Urban Search and Rescue crew at the collapsed Didcot Power Station on Site A in 2016 Picture: SIMON WILLIAMS
In a joint statement on behalf of Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive, Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Jason Hogg: "[We] remain entirely committed to this extremely complex and challenging investigation and we maintain close contact with the families to provide them with regular updates on progress.
“We also continue to update the Crown Prosecution Service.
“Further interviews with key witnesses and suspects are planned and will be conducted in due course as we continue to progress the investigation into what happened.
“At this time we cannot put a timeframe on when the investigation will conclude, however I would like to be very clear that we will not stop in our pursuit of answers for the families.”
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