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The owner of a fireworks firm and his 25-year-old son has been jailed after being convicted of killing two fire fighters due to their negligence. The firemen were killed in a massive blast at their family-run company named Alpha Fireworks Ltd (formerly called Festival Fireworks UK Ltd).

The owner Martin Winter has been jailed for seven years, while His son Nathan has been jailed for five years for the deaths of fire-fighter Geoff Wicker, 49, and support officer Brian Wembridge, 63. The judgement was passed at Lewes Crown Court yesterday.

The blast had occurred in East Sussex in December 2006, and besides the two deaths, 20 people from the police and fire department were injured. The blast also drew a £30,000 fine for the company.

The father-and-son duo were found to be “grossly negligent” as they kept fireworks in metal containers not licensed for the storage of explosive items, despite knowing fully well the potential dangers and eventualities if they came in contact with fire. It was discovered that the metal container had previously been used to hold chicken feed.

The court heard that the accidental ignition of some fireworks sparked a chain reaction in the factory site, and this led to the spread of the fire until the entire factory was engulfed in flames. By the time the explosion took place in the metal container, many firefighters had evacuated the scene after failing to combat the initial blaze. However, some fire officers, like Mr Wembridge and Mr Wicker were still present in the scene. Mr. Wembridge was busy filming footage of the blaze.

Mr. Wembridge’s footage was shown to the court. The footage revealed that the blast was so strong that the doors of the metal container were blown apart by the tremendous pressure. The explosion was very similar to a bomb blast.

Judge Mr Justice Cooke told the winters that they did not make proper arrangements for the storage of the fireworks despite being familiar with the safety regulations to be followed for storage of different kinds of firework.

The lawyers defending the winters however told the jurors that the fire fighters had breached their own safety guidelines by failing to evacuate the factory area at the right time. The judge added that had the fire fighters been given proper training regarding ways to deal with explosives, then the accident could have been avoided.

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