The Provincial Court of León has acquitted the mining entrepreneurs accused of manslaughter for the six deaths that occurred in the Pozo Emilio del Valle de Pola de Gordón (León) in 2013. The judge, who has been on leave for almost three years after the trial, understands that there is no criminal responsibility even at the top of the body responsible for the site, despite there having been warnings of risks to the safety of the employees, nor does he condemn the insurers. The trial has dragged on for years due to procedural issues, to the exasperation of the victims’ families, also exhausted by the almost three years that have passed without a sentence. “We are very disappointed by what this lady has done, three years of pause… and in a week (since she entered) she has studied everything. She doesn’t convince us”, complains to EL PAÍS, still emotional and not knowing if they will appeal against the sentence, the mother of Manuel Moure, one of the deceased.
The sentence, of which the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL) released only the summary of the acquittal to the media, has 505 pages in which the details of the case are described. In short, all those accused of crimes against workers’ rights are acquitted, accused of having made miners work in risk areas and without the relevant safety measures, as well as of the crimes of murder due to serious imprudence and of injuries due to serious imprudence, since several survivors have suffered serious consequences.
The insurance companies were also exempted as indirect civil liability and the Hullera Vasco Leonesa entity as subsidiary civil liability for the exploitation of coal in the Leonese mountains. The resolution can be challenged, something that the families had not clarified in the previous weeks, awaiting judicial movements: the case was judged painfully in 2023, with the regret of having to tell what happened, and it was an ordeal for them to endure the almost three years of absence of the judge, who decided as follows just two weeks after returning to court.
The public prosecutor requested sentences of three and a half years in prison for the 16 company executives and millionaire compensation for the families of the deceased and other affected employees.
Last October 28, 12 years have passed since the accident which occurred in tunnel 740 of the Monte Leonese mine, a seventh underground floor, where a mass of firedamp gas exploded, killing the six men by asphyxiation as well as injuring several of their colleagues, who had to save the bodies from mining exploitation and who assured that in the days preceding the events there had been interruptions to the activity due to excessive risk. On March 30, 2026, three years will have passed since the judge left the trial for the sentence, without anyone knowing anything about it until now. On March 30, 2026, three years would have passed since the judge abandoned the trial for the sentence, even if the possible appeal by the relatives of the deceased anticipates that the judicial process could be prolonged even further. The parents of Manuel Moure, who died in that well, have demonstrated regularly in front of the court during the almost three years that have passed without a judicial decision, which they will now study with their lawyers to decide whether to appeal.
