By Robert Dalling

Copyright walesonline

The family of a man who died after an explosion took place at his home have said they feel “massive mistakes” were made and “key evidence lost” after 60 tonnes of rubble from the decimated property was removed and not preserved for examination. Brian Lyn Davies’ body was discovered among the rubble at his home address of 159 Clydach Road, Morriston, Swansea , on Monday, March 13, 2023. The retired builder, who was aged 68, had been unaccounted for for several hours. An inquest is being held at Swansea’s Guildhall into his death and is anticipated to go on for up to six days. Previous stages of the inquest heard how rubble was removed from the scene by Swansea Council staff operating a JCB, as efforts were made to find Mr Davies. But 60 tonnes of the rubble, described as “potential evidence” was taken to a baling plant at a recycling centre and not preserved. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here . A gas pipe excavated at the scene was found to be fractured in places, with the biggest crack being four to eight millimetres, along with smaller cracks. A central question in the inquest is whether the cracks in the gas pipe had formed before the explosion, or afterwards, during the excavation process. A short statement read by a family member at the inquest heard: “As a family we feel massive mistakes have been made and key evidence lost. “We hope lessons will be learnt so other families do not experience what we have had to experience.” On day four of the inquest, which took place on Thursday, evidence was given by Stephen Critchlow, who works for the Health and Safety Executive in its science division. He assisted field inspectors by carrying out an investigation into the causation of the explosion. He was asked to attend the scene, and initially expressed his reservations after seeing news reports showing that the scene had been “significantly compromised.” But he later attended, and told the hearing: “I was able to see straight away the road had effectively been cleared of debris from explosion. My opinion was most of debris on scene was from the attached 157 neighbouring property, and that materials from 159 had been cleared from the scene.” Concerning the fractured gas pipe, Mr Critchlow said: “In terms of the gas main itself, my consideration of it is, that, there is a leaking gas main as a matter of fact. It is close to the house, as a matter of fact, and also matter of fact, is that a leaking gas mains outside a house is a common cause of explosion.” He added: “I absolutely would not rule out the gas main being causal. It’s a matter of fact it was leaking gas and close to the house, but a gas explosion is a possibility rather than a probability. “My opinion is that it is a possible cause, but I can’t say any stronger than that, simply because we can’t rule out a gas leak existing in the house already, because that evidence has been lost.” Mr Critchlow described his inspection of a gas meter and cooker which had been seized by police, and his opinion that they were “gas tight”, and a boiler having “no significant leak.”. Evidence was also given by gas and pipeline specialist for the Health and Safety Executive, James Rutherford. He explained how he travelled to the scene from Manchester the day after the explosion to examine whether a gas main had leaked. Describing what he found upon arrival, he told the inquest: “It was a scene of devastation, and what used to be a house which had clearly exploded, and the aftermath of that. “Sadly you could see possessions strewn around the street. It was a sign of the devastation when you could see roof and insulation on the other side of the road.” The first day of the inquest heard evidence from Claire Bennett, who lived next door at 157, and whose house was also destroyed by the explosion. She explained that she could smell gas from the rear of her property for a fortnight before the explosion, which was emanating from a property at nearby Field Close. The inquest continues.