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| Gleision: Malcolm Fyfield and MNS Mining not guilty | Gleision: Malcolm Fyfield and MNS Mining not guilty |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The manager and owners of a Swansea Valley mine where four miners died have been cleared of manslaughter. | The manager and owners of a Swansea Valley mine where four miners died have been cleared of manslaughter. |
| Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Philip Hill, 44, and Garry Jenkins, 39, drowned in 2011 when 650,000 gallons of water flooded the Gleision drift mine following a controlled explosion. | Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Philip Hill, 44, and Garry Jenkins, 39, drowned in 2011 when 650,000 gallons of water flooded the Gleision drift mine following a controlled explosion. |
| Manager Malcolm Fyfield, 58, and mine owners MNS Mining had denied manslaughter through gross negligence. | Manager Malcolm Fyfield, 58, and mine owners MNS Mining had denied manslaughter through gross negligence. |
| Key to the case was whether Mr Fyfield inspected the mine as he said he did. | Key to the case was whether Mr Fyfield inspected the mine as he said he did. |
| Mr Fyfield broke down in tears as the not guilty verdicts were read out at Swansea Crown Court. | |
| The former mine manager was working underground with the when water tore into the pit after they blasted into old coal workings, near Pontardawe. | |
| Mr Fyfield, 58, who had come out of retirement to run the mine, had been given orders to connect two parts of the pit to improve ventilation. | |
| The prosecution claimed he should have known his workers would be breaking through an area called a "cautionary zone" where underground water was present. | |
| Mr Fyfield told the court he had checked the area the day before and there was only "ponding water" present. | |
| A statement from the families of the men who died was read out on the court steps following the verdicts. | |
| It said: "Today has been a difficult day for us all, as have the last two-and-a-half years since we lost our loved ones at the Gleision mine. | |
| "We miss Gary, Philip, Charles and David deeply. Not a day has passed without wishing they were still with us. | |
| "The events of September 15, 2011 will stay with us for the rest of our lives." |