Factory blast firms to be sentenced

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ICL Plastics and ICL Tech have pleaded guilty to four charges in relation to the explosion at the Stockline plastics factory in Glasgow.

Nine people were killed and 33 injured in the blast on May 11 2004, which was Scotland's worst factory accident since 1968.

The High Court in Glasgow on Monday heard the first detailed official account of the accident.

The explosion was caused by a build-up of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) which leaked from pipework installed in 1969 - and may have been ignited when a labourer switched on a light when he went into the basement to pick up his tools, the court heard. The leak in the underground pipe work would have cost only £405 to replace.

Bosses at the factory had ordered risk assessments, but these were not specifically investigated the condition of the underground pipe.

And one risk assessment was carried out by a college student doing vacation work.

The charges to which the two companies have pleaded guilty alleged that between 1993 and 2004 they failed to ensure there was no risk to employees from pipe work at the factory.

More than 30 relatives of the victims were present in the court.

The most sombre section of the prosecution account came when the names of the dead and injured, and a brief description of their injuries, was read out in court.