On the night of March 25 2017 at 9.14pm, the blast tore out part of the town’s shopping area and, destroyed many homes and businesses in the surrounding area.
In 2019, Pascal Blasio received a 20-year jail sentence after being been found guilty of deliberately causing the explosion to make an insurance claim. The court heard how it was a “miracle” no-one died.
According to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) website, Blasio passed away on February 28 at HMP Rochester, aged 64, and an investigation is underway,
In total, 63 properties were damaged in the explosion, along with vehicles and left people with broken bones, lacerations, burns and psychological trauma.
That same year, contract Natural Gas (CNG), the company that supplied gas to Blasio’s property, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £320,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 towards prosecution costs in the criminal case.
Blasio’s widow Sonia Robinson-Blasio has always maintained his claims of innocence. Posting on X, recently, she said: “My husband lost his fight to cancer. I can’t tell you how devastated I am.
“Seven years of his life taken from him spent in prison, incarcerated [as] an innocent man. I will never stop fighting to clear his name.
“It is disgraceful what my husband has gone through.
“Losing my husband to an injustice system was one thing and then to lose him again to cancer has destroyed me.
“I would never forgive the justice system for the injustice it done (sic) to my husband, it destroyed him and me. Injustice is not justice. It’s evil.”
The area affected by the explosion has now been redeveloped with new homes. Some businesses, including Griffiths Bakery have also returned.