The widow of a High Court judge is being sued for multi-million pound compensation after a tenant in her flat was blown up in a gas explosion which it is claimed she could have prevented.
Supermarket worker Kyle Roe, 22, suffered horrific burns to 87% of his body in the devastating blast at his newly-refurbished rented flat in a Grade- II listed building in Chippenham, Wiltshire, in 2017.
Only his scalp and his bathing trunk region escaped injury.
Mr Roe rented the flat from Lady Ferris – widow of senior judge Mr Justice Ferris, who died in 2014 – and is now suing her for millions in damages.
Kyle Roe and his injuries. Mr Roe suffered burns to 87% of his body in the blast at his newly-refurbished rented flat in a Grade- II listed building in Chippenham, Wiltshire, in 2017
A disused gas pipe in the building had not been properly sealed, according to Mr Roe’s lawyers, filling the flat with explosive natural gas which ignited when he turned on the kitchen light.
The former Morrison’s staff member was rushed to hospital and has since had more than a dozen operations, having to learn to walk and talk again.
His lawyers claim that Lady Ferris, 85, was at least partly to blame for the blast because she had not checked that work she’d had done on the flat was safe.
However, Lady Ferris denies any blame, saying that she had no idea that old pipework on an upper floor of the building was connected to the gas supply.
Mr Roe before the explosion. He rented the flat from Lady Ferris – widow of senior judge Mr Justice Ferris, who died in 2014 – and is now suing her for millions in damages
Lawyers say Mr Roe’s case is likely to be ‘a multi-million pound claim’ due to the severity of the injuries caused to such a young man.
‘He is clearly in need of compensation to provide him with the suitable rehabilitation and help that he requires to meet his ongoing needs,’ said Ben Rogers, of Stewarts solicitors.
Setting out the claim in court documents, Mr Roe’s barrister, Daniel Lawson, said he rented the Market Place flat from Lady Ferris in March 2017.
‘On October 18, 2017, the claimant went from the lower to the upper part of Flat D at the premises using the internal staircase,’ Mr Lawson says.
‘When he reached the upper part of the flat, where the kitchen/lounge was situated, he switched on the electric light for the area.
‘Upon his doing so, there was a violent explosion within Flat D, caused by a build-up of natural gas within the premises.’
The flat where the explosion occurred , Flat D, in the the Grade-II listed 68 Market Place
Mr Lawson said Lady Ferris had work done on the building in 2014 and 2015, converting the first to third floors of the Grade-II listed 68 Market Place into flats, with a shop on the ground floor.
As part of the work, the existing gas heating installation was altered, but crucially, concealed old pipework behind a wall in another flat in the building was not properly sealed, Mr Lawson claims.
Mr Roe is suing Lady Ferris, her now liquidated project manager Prestige EA Limited and its insurer Zurich Insurance Plc over his life-changing injuries, with none accepting liability for the accident.
Mr Lawson said the injuries suffered by Mr Roe were ‘devastating’.
‘Effectively, the only areas of his body that were spared were his scalp and his bathing trunk region,’ he says.
‘He remained in intensive care until 20 December 2017 and was not discharged home until 26 January, 2018.
‘He suffers extensive severe scarring over the vast bulk of his body, ongoing pain and ongoing limitations in mobility.
‘He remained in intensive care until 20 December 2017 and was not discharged home until 26 January, 2018. (Mr Roe pictured in hospital)
‘He has also suffered very severe psychological injury involving, among other things, severe low mood, suicidal thoughts and marked anxiety.’
Lady Ferris was under a duty to make sure the work was done ‘in a workmanlike manner’ and with ‘proper materials’ so that the flat was ‘fit for habitation,’ he claims.
‘The alteration of the gas installations at the premises was performed in wholly unsafe fashion in that a gas pipe that ran up to the first floor level within the building fabric was left inadequately sealed,’ he says.
‘Lady Ferris at all material times knew that some gas pipework had been left in place behind stud walls on the upper floors of the property.
‘Further, she at all material times knew or ought to have known that there remained a gas supply to the shop floor premises at the property.
‘If after completion of the alterations to the gas installations at the premises any reasonable form of soundness or safety check had been performed upon the fittings in place it would have revealed the existence of the inadequately sealed pipe and the hazard it caused.’
Only his scalp and his bathing trunk region escaped injury in the blast. Lady Shelia denies blame and said fault lies with a liquidated management company, Prestige, who were tasked with looking after the refurbishments
He added: ‘Lady Ferris at no time following completion of the alterations to the gas installations at the premises arranged for the fittings left in place to be checked or inspected by a suitably competent person, this notwithstanding the fact that she was letting out flats in the premises for residential purposes and as a business.’
In her defence to the claim, Lady Ferris’ barrister, Andrew McLoughlin, says she wanted an ‘exceptionally good project manager’ to look after the refurbishments as she lives far away.
She had enlisted Prestige, a ‘reputable company’, and it was down to them to make sure the work was safely done.
The barrister said the fault lay with the now liquidated Prestige, which had pleaded guilty to ‘a relevant offence’ at Salisbury Magistrates Court in December.
Lady Ferris had work done on the building in 2014 and 2015, converting the first to third floors of the Grade-II listed 68 Market Place, Chippenham, Wiltshire, into flats, with a shop on the ground floor (Market Place pictured)
Lady Ferris knew some old pipework was to be left behind the stud walls and said she did not mind, so long as it was not connected to a gas supply, he says.
‘She did not know and could not reasonably have known of the uncapped gas pipe behind the stud wall,’ the barrister says.
‘She had made clear…that if any pipework was left behind it must not be connected to the gas supply.’
Mr McLoughlin says that, even had a gas safety check been done following the work, the problem with the old pipework would not have been revealed.
‘The defect would only have been revealed by subsequent gas safety checks if the stud wall had been removed, which was unlikely to have happened,’ he says in court documents.
No date has been set for the case to be heard.