The firework trade have been waiting in trepidation for the outcome of the court case against Geoffrey Counsell. Mr Counsell, who ran Firestorm Pyrotechnics, was the contractor hired by Taunton Rugby Club to run a firework display costing £3,000, which was watched by approximately 1,000 people. It was claimed that he had breached health & safety laws and that the smoke from the firework display had mixed with fog and caused the terrible accident on the M5 in November 2011 in which seven people died.
When preparing a risk assessment it is nigh impossible to take in to consideration every possible eventuality and if Mr Counsell had been found guilty it could have signaled the end of many large firework displays as operators would be unwilling to put their names to the risk assessments required for such displays.
However the judge at Bristol Crown Court directed the jury to find him not guilty.
Speaking outside court, Mr Counsell said he believed the decision to prosecute him was motivated by a desire to find someone to blame for this terrible accident, simply for the sake of doing so.
Mr Counsell had originally been charged with seven counts of manslaughter but the charges were dropped earlier this year, due to insufficient evidence. He was charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act with failing to operate the display so as to ensure that others who might be affected were not exposed to risks. Mr Counsell was cleared of all charges over the crash on 4 November 2011
Mr Counsell’s lawyer Gavin Reese read a statement on his behalf outside court
Mr Justice Simon ruled Mr Counsell had “no case to answer” following an application from the defendant’s barrister at the halfway point in the trial.
He said the prosecution’s case was “heavily weighted” on “hindsight” and there was not sufficient evidence to show that Mr Counsell ought to have foreseen that smoke from the display could have drifted and mixed with fog to create thick smog.
“I have therefore concluded that the evidence is such that the jury cannot continue in these circumstances and it is my duty to stop the trial and order an acquittal” he added.
More news related to the case;-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25316055
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/m5-crash-firework-contractor-cleared-2911514
article by www.jordansfireworks.co.uk
