COURT cases against a company and an employee, who face health and safety charges following a gas explosion in Chippenham which left Kyle Roe with life changing injuries, will now now be heard in May.

Roderick Standing, 63, of Station Road, Corsham has pleaded not guilty to to conducting himself in such a way to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that persons were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

His trial is listed for a five day hearing in Salisbury Magistrates starting on May 4

Company Prestige EA Ltd from Bristol has indicated it will plead guilty to the same charge which will be heard in Salisbury on May 11.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “The case was adjourned on December 16 and a trial date was set for May at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court.”

The Health and Safety Executive is prosecuting Prestige EA Ltd and Roderick Standing following the explosion which happened on October 18, 2017 in Market Place, Chippenham.

Kyle, 21, suffered 87 per cent burns to his body in an explosion in his newly-refurbished flat.

He was in an induced coma for seven weeks and has since undergone many skin grafts at a burns unit in Swansea.

His mother Tracy said Kyle, a former pupil of Sheldon School who worked at Morrisons, wanted prosecutions to go ahead. She said: “Kyle is very focused on the prosecutions because he did nothing wrong except turn a light switch on.”

She explained that Kyle had been suffering mentally as well as physically since the explosion.

Tracy said: “The hardest part for him is trying to accept what his new life is going to be compared to what it would have been. He was a very sporty person, very outgoing and he had a career. He had a motorbike that he loved which he will never ride again.

“He doesn’t like how his body now looks, and he must accept he looks different, which he hasn’t yet.

After the explosion, Kyle’s dad, Chris, become his full time carer, and his three brothers, Kallum, 23, Connor, 14, and Findlay, nine, found it tough coming to terms with Kyle’s injuries.

Mrs Roe said: “The Health and Safety Executive have been excellent and have kept Kyle informed all the way. Kyle just wants justice.”