A devastating house explosion that claimed the life of a 68-year-old grandfather could have been preceded by a weeks-long gas leak, a harrowing inquest has heard.
Brian Goodall, a beloved grandfather, was tragically killed when his end-terrace home on Buckley Street in Shaw, Oldham, was utterly destroyed in a catastrophic blast on the morning of 4th October 2023. The force of the explosion was so immense that it severely damaged several neighbouring properties, leaving a community in shock.
'We Could Smell Gas For Weeks'
In a testimony that raises profound questions, neighbour Sharon Brogan told the Oldham inquest that residents had been reporting a persistent and worrying smell of gas in the area for up to three weeks before the tragedy unfolded.
"The smell of gas was really strong," Ms. Brogan stated. "It was there for two to three weeks. Everybody was complaining about it." She described how the odour was particularly potent near a specific paving slab close to Mr. Goodall's home, a detail reported to the gas network days before the explosion.
A Community's Warnings
The inquest was presented with a timeline of concerned reports from the community. Another resident, Daryl O'Prey, contacted Cadent Gas on 2nd October—just two days before the blast—after his wife detected the strong smell of gas. A Cadent engineer was dispatched and initially detected low levels of gas. However, the readings unexpectedly dropped, and the engineer, after consulting a colleague, left the scene.
Tragically, mere hours after a second engineer finally returned to investigate the following morning, the street was rocked by the enormous explosion that destroyed Mr. Goodall's home and injured others.
A Life Lost and a Community Shattered
The aftermath was one of utter devastation. Firefighters worked for over six hours to extinguish the resulting fire and carefully recover Mr. Goodall's body from the rubble. His family remembered him as "a loving husband, dad and grandad" and a keen cricketer, whose loss has left a void that can never be filled.
As the inquest continues, it seeks to unravel the precise sequence of events and the response to the multiple warnings, a process that will be crucial for providing answers to a grieving family and a traumatised community.
