Coal tips safety: Residents say lessons ‘not learned’ from Aberfan disaster
Residents who live near disused coal tips in South Wales say lessons have not been learned from the Aberfan disaster nearly 60 years on.
Their comments come after a disused coal tip in Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, partially collapsed in November, forcing around 40 homes to be evacuated.
A coal tip is made up of waste material from coal mining, many of which have existed for several decades.
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Evacuations after coal tip collapses
Dianne Morgan, 68, has lived in the house she had built in the Cwmtillery ward for the last 10 years.
She told Sky News she didn’t know there was a category D tip – the most dangerous – behind her property, until the slip, which happened after heavy rainfall during Storm Bert.
“All we were told was underlying mines had been there. But there was no mention of a tip when we had searches at all,” she said.
“I’m not being funny, if I had known there was a tip behind me, I wouldn’t have built here.”
Dianne Morgan
‘Got to be sorted’
There are 2,573 disused coal tips in Wales, according to Welsh government data – the vast majority of which are in the former coal mining communities of the South Wales Valleys.
Three hundred and sixty of these are in the two most dangerous categories and are monitored at least once a year as they have “the potential to impact public safety”.
Ms Morgan said she believes lessons have not been learned from the Aberfan disaster in 1966 when a colliery spoil tip collapsed killing 144 people, including 116 children.
A build-up of water within the tip after heavy rain caused it to suddenly slide downhill as slurry.
The tragedy is considered the worst mining-related disaster in British history and was more recently featured in an episode of Netflix series The Crown.
Map showing Cwmtillery, Aberfan and Cardiff in South Wales
“The tip’s got to come down,” she said, but added that the authorities “don’t want to pay”.
“They think they’ll just drag it on and on and on and then people just forget, but you’re not going to forget are you? Because every time we have pouring down rain or if you hear a noise, you come out here and I have a check just in case it’s something,” she added.
“They all talk about they’re all broke, ain’t we all? But that doesn’t matter, it’s people’s lives you’re dealing with and people’s homes at the end of the day.
“It took everything we had to build this, if that came down and wrecked this, even if I wasn’t in it, we’ve got nothing.”
She said the slip before Christmas “could have been a lot worse”.
“Irrespective of who owns it, it’s got to be sorted…’cause you don’t know where it’s going to come down next’,” Ms Morgan said.
“We’ve got to have a surety that this tip is going to be seen to, and not only this tip but other tips for other people that could be in the same situation that we are, especially with the rain we’re having at the moment.”
Brian Preece
‘Nothing getting done’
Brian Preece, 77, has lived in Cwmtillery all his life.
He told Sky News he “always played on the tips” as a child.
“We never had one inclination from anywhere in my life that them tips was dangerous,” he said.
“I played on them myself, my children played on them, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren.”
He said that if a larger tip would have come down, his street “would have gone” and the tips needed to be taken “down to a safe level”.
“They’ve said they was going to do this, and they said they was going to do that, but there’s nothing getting done and everybody’s worrying now,” he added.
“The only safe way on my behalf, and I’m sure everybody else, is they should be dropped.
“Alright, they say it’s going to cost a lot of money, [but] they’ve got to drop it. You can’t put a price on children’s lives, on anybody’s life, and it should be down.”
Sky News has approached Blaenau Gwent Council for its response.
Stuart Adams
‘Nothing has changed’
In October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £25m in the budget for the maintenance of coal tips in Wales to ensure communities are kept “safe”.
Meanwhile, the Welsh government has outlined proposals for a Disused Tips Authority for Wales, which would take on responsibility for coal tip safety in future.
Map showing locations of Wales’s category C and D coal tips
But campaigners say the money promised to tackle the issue is not enough.
Stuart Adams, 65, regularly walks the tips at Bedwas and Cilfynydd.
Mr Adams is part of the Clear South Wales’s Coal Tips group, which is calling for action to make the tips safer.
“It’s ordinary people that are going to be affected if there is a disaster, or even a minor slip, which has just happened in Cwmtillery. They still cause masses of disruption for people,” he told Sky News.
“I’m no expert on the financial side of things, but clearly [the money’s] not enough to make these places safe.”
Mr Adams said the tip at Cilfynydd Common collapsed in 1939 and was seen as “a precursor to an Aberfan disaster”.
“Luckily no one was hurt, and no one was killed [in the 1939 slip],” he added.
“The same could quite easily happen again as nothing has changed with regards to the tips.”
Cilfynydd Common coal tip
‘First of its kind’ legislation
A Welsh government spokesperson said it had invested more than £100m in coal tip safety since 2021 “to ensure our coal tip communities are safe”.
“We have also introduced modern legislation – the first of its kind in the UK – to prevent disused coal and non-coal tips from being a threat to human life,” they added.
“The highest risk coal tips (category C and D) are regularly inspected by the Mining Remediation Authority (MRA) and we continue to work with partners across Wales to inspect sites, including additional checks during extreme weather.”
A spokesperson for the MRA (formerly the Coal Authority) said it continued to provide “support, expertise and advice” to the Welsh government.
“We undertake an inspection programme on behalf of Welsh government and other agencies, providing recommendations for maintenance requirements,” they added.
“We also continue to directly manage the 26 coal tips that the Mining Remediation Authority owns in Wales and provide management services to other landowners as needed.”
Victims of grooming gangs and modern slavery are being denied compensation by a government scheme because of their criminal records, Sky News has learned.
Analysis of official figures by Sky News’ Data & Forensics team shows more than 11,000 victims of crime over the last decade have been denied payouts because of their unspent convictions, including children.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority can award money to victims of violent crime, including sexual abuse.
It is the only government compensation scheme for victims – for those unable to work due to injuries, the money can be vital.
But, if an applicant has a criminal record, they are automatically refused compensation with limited exceptions.
Those with unspent convictions sometimes receive reduced sums.
Sky News has found that at least 130 children with criminal records have received reduced awards over the last 10 years, including 50 victims of sex abuse, four victims of brain damage, and one child who lost sight in an eye.
This rule on unspent convictions is based on the idea that public funds should only compensate blameless victims of crime and not, for example, a gang member who was injured in a fight.
But many argue the policy punishes those who have been forced to offend by exploiters, as well as victims of child sexual abuse.
‘I was frustrated that I wasn’t being believed’
Arthur Sherry, 43, from Perranporth in Cornwall was regularly abused by his babysitter from the age of five, including suffering rape.
In 2008, he reported it to Devon and Cornwall Police, alongside two other victims. He alleges the police did not believe him, and charges were not brought against his abuser.
Arthur Sherry, who was abused as a child, says he was denied compensation because of his criminal record
Arthur became angry and descended into addiction as a “coping mechanism”, becoming suicidal, and was repeatedly arrested for minor offences, such as making false calls to the emergency services.
“I wasn’t getting support from any agencies, and no one asked me, ‘Why is this man ringing the emergency services all the time?'”
“It was a cry for help. I was frustrated that I wasn’t being believed.”
Eventually, Arthur’s abuser, Shaun Burton, was convicted of multiple offences against children, including 11 counts of indecency with a child in relation to Mr Sherry.
But when Arthur, who suffers from complex PTSD, subsequently tried to make a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in 2013, it was rejected because of his criminal record and because he submitted his application beyond CICA’s time limit.
He was not allowed to appeal the decision.
Arthur, aged 12 in the picture, was regularly abused by his babysitter, Shaun Burton, from the age of five
Many survivors of grooming gangs have criminal records due to being exploited and coerced.
While the government recently announced plans to disregard child prostitution convictions for these victims, many are urging authorities to go further and pardon all related offences.
Former victims’ commissioner Dame Vera Baird said: “They were not exercising their own free will and voluntarily committing crime, so there should be a discretion to look at that and say, ‘No, that wasn’t their fault’.
“They should get compensation for all the evil that was done to them by that gang.”
In 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommended that the government amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme so that “applicants with unspent convictions are not automatically excluded where offences are likely to be linked to the circumstances of their sexual abuse as a child”.
The government has refused to act on this recommendation.
However, Labour MP Sarah Champion has tabled an amendment to the upcoming Victims and Courts Bill, hoping to implement it, as well as widen eligibility to the scheme.
“Victims are seen as running a cannabis farm and get a conviction, before it actually turns out that they were a victim of modern slavery.
“These people, who are very clearly recognised as victims and survivors, aren’t getting the money that’s owed to them. The system is broken and the ministers need to get rid of it.”
‘I was frustrated that I wasn’t being believed,’ Arthur tells Sky News’ Alice Porter
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A government spokesperson said: “Last year, more than £164m was paid out under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to victims, and we are going further by removing the time limit for civil personal injury claims and doubling Home Office funding for services supporting adult victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
“Changes to the way we compensate victims have been considered by successive governments, and our priority must always be to treat all victims of violence equally.”
Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Tackling sexual offending is a key priority for Devon & Cornwall Police and we are working hard to bring offenders to justice.
“We take reports of all sexual offences seriously and will carry out thorough investigations into reports, looking at all viable lines of enquiry.”
Nathan Gill was at Manchester airport, about to board a flight to Russia, when accepting bribes finally caught up with him.
Gill, the former leader of Reform UK Wales and a one-time member of the European Parliament, who on Friday was jailed for 10-a-half-years, was stopped by police before boarding and had his phone seized in 2021.
While they interrogated him, his home in Anglesey was raided, with detectives discovering more electronics and cash piles of €5,000 (£4,400) and $5,000 (£3,800) respectively.
Nathan Gill being questioned. Pic: Met Police
The evidence on Gill’s phone would damn him – he was in contact with a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine, Oleg Voloshyn, and had agreed to boost pro-Russia viewpoints in exchange for money.
Voloshyn would dictate the statement, and Gill would repeat it – in some cases, almost word for word – in the media or the European Parliament.
In one instance, Gill appeared on the now-banned Ukrainian TV channel, 112 Ukraine, which was known for its pro-Russian stance.
In the interview, he was critical of the Ukrainian decision to open criminal proceedings against Viktor Medvedchuk, the owner of the television channel and a personal friend of Vladimir Putin.
Nathan Gill. Pic: Met Police
Speaking to the outlet, he said he was “very concerned” about the investigation, and wondered whether it was meant to silence “opposition politicians”.
Prosecutors said messages on Gill’s phone showed that this was at his paymaster’s instruction, with Voloshyn offering a “reward” if he would say that it was unacceptable to persecute a person for their political convictions.
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Voloshyn also offered the MEP €2,000 (£1,750) if he would express concern that Mr Medvedchuk could no longer mediate with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf, the court heard.
He added that “V” – understood to be Mr Medvedchuk – did not believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had “true intentions to pursue a peace agenda”, prosecutors said.
Bundles of cash were recovered from Gill’s home. Pic: Met Police
Sure enough, Gill appeared on 112 Ukraine saying it was “very sad” that Mr Medvedchuk felt he no longer had Mr Zelensky’s backing to act as a mediator with Russia, and suggested that using him “would be a sensible thing to do”.
The messages traded in innuendo, referring to the exchange of “Xmas gifts” or “postcards” instead of money.
But as the pair grew more comfortable with each other, they bargained more explicitly, with the sum of “£5k” quoted for Gill’s work.
Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Command at the Met Police, said Gill had also offered access to other MEPs.
“This is where we get into that slightly odd situation where it feels very much like a real effort to undermine democracy here,” he said.
“This is Nathan Gill reaching out to individuals that he knows, who are Brits, who might be willing to be paid to go and make speeches.”
Commander Murphy declined to name names, but said there was an ongoing investigation and that other people had been spoken to.
None of the pro-Brexit MEPs Gill allegedly approached have been interviewed under caution.
Pic: Met Police
Police confirmed there was no evidence to suggest Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was involved.
Gill was stopped at Manchester Airport on 13 September 2021, under schedule 3 of the Counter Terrorism and Borders Security Act 2019.
He offered police no explanation for his actions and answered no comment in a March 2022 police interview.
But the 52-year-old is believed to have had financial problems.
Mr Murphy added that while Gill appeared to have pro-Russian sympathies, he was primarily motivated by money.
The ex-MEP has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to eight counts of bribery between December 2018 and July 2019.
Following an investigation by counter-terrorism police, officers said they believe Gill likely took a minimum of £40,000 in cash and was offering to introduce other British MEPs so they could be bribed.
Voloshyn was picked up by the authorities on a trip to the US in 2021, which enabled the FBI to discover his end of the conversation.
He is now believed to be in Russia, but has been sanctioned by the UK government over allegations of trying to destabilise Ukraine.
Nathan Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery over pro-Russian statements. Including to media outlet 112 Ukraine. Pic: Met Police
He remains wanted in both Britain and Ukraine.
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Mr Gill’s actions were reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable.
“We are glad that justice has been served and fully welcome the sentence Nathan Gill has received.”
Mr Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “An investigation into Russian and Chinese influence over British politics would be welcome.”
The MP for Clacton previously described his former colleague as a “bad apple” and said he was “shocked” after Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery.
He said: “Any political party can find in their midst all sorts of terrible people.
“You can never, ever guarantee 100% that everyone you meet in your life, you shake hands with in the pub, is a good person.”
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