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Ministry of Defence criticised over scientist's blast death
1 Sep 2010A Ministry of Defence scientist died following a blast during secret explosives tests which were poorly organised, an inquest ruled today.
Terry Jupp, 46, of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was killed in August 2002 at a testing station near Shoeburyness, Essex. He was working on an anti-terror trial involving chemical explosives.
Jurors at the inquest in Southend, Essex, said planning and risk assessment had not been appropriate; a small scale test could have been carried out in advance; adequate regard was not paid to personal protective equipment; and that communication and organisation appeared inadequate.
Much of the hearing was held in secret to prevent sensitive information falling into the hands of terrorists and the chemicals involved in the fatal test were referred to only as A, B and C.
Jurors heard Mr Jupp, who worked for the MoD's Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory, and colleagues had just finished mixing the three chemicals when the explosion occurred.
He suffered severe burns and died a week later in hospital.
The tests were part of joint experiments between British and American experts. One witness said the results could be “catastrophic” if information about the testing fell into the wrong hands.
Mr Jupp's widow Pat said and that listening to evidence about her husband's death had been “extremely harrowing”. She was never been able to discuss his work because of its sensitive nature.
She said she felt satisfied by recommendations made for improvements following an inquiry into Mr Jupp's death.
“The Ministry of Defence have lost a highly experienced, loyal, dedicated scientist. I feel very proud in the knowledge that he helped to save thousands of lives doing the research work that he carried out.”
She said she felt the inquest had been a “fair and thorough” inquiry and she was “very pleased” with the outcome.
“I think the jury got it right. I don't want anything like this to ever happen again."
