THE managing director of Bosley Mill, who was spared jail today (Friday), has been "been held to account" for the devastating 2015 blast.

George Boden was sentenced to a nine-months custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months at Chester Crown Court. He was handed a £12,000 fine and banned from being a company director for four years.

His conviction under the Health and Safety at Work Act related to the devastating explosion at the Mill on July 17, 2015 in which Dorothy Bailey, 62, Derek William Barks, 51, Derek Moore, 62, and Jason Shingler, 38, were killed.

In April Boden, 64, from Stockport, and the firm Wood Treatment Ltd were cleared of gross negligence manslaughter, while mill manager Peter Shingler, 56, from Bosley, and operations manager Philip Smith, 58, from Macclesfield, were found not guilty of a health and safety offence.

After those verdicts Boden and Wood Treatment Limited admitted offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) 1974.

Wood Treatment Limited was given a £75,000 fine for breaching HSWA S2 in failing to protect its employees from the risk of fire.

Boden had previously admitted that the health and safety offence against the company was committed with his consent, connivance or neglect as Managing Director of Wood Treatment Limited (Health and Safety at Work Act, Section 37).

The sentencing was the culmination of proceedings involving the company, Boden, Smith and Shingler.

The Mill blast also left others seriously injured and the scale and impact of the loss of lives devastated the local community to the north east of Congleton.

A joint investigation was launched between Cheshire Constabulary and the Health and Safety Executive, assisted by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Det. Chief Insp. Paul Hughes, who led the police investigation, said: "The incident that day tore the heart out of the local community and resulted in a long and exhausting journey for those who lost loved ones and also those who suffered life-changing injuries.

"Following the incident our teams worked tirelessly to provide an extensive file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service who authorised the charges and a trial began in January.

"The families will never forget what happened that day and while this is not the outcome that they had hoped for I hope that this will, in some way, help to bring some form of closure for them."

Sally Nicholson, Head of Operations for the North West Health and Safety Executive said: "Wood Treatment Ltd and its Director failed to ensure the health and safety of their employees, exposing them on a daily basis to the risk of a wood dust explosion, through lack of appropriate assessment and control.

"The company and Mr Boden in his capacity as Managing Director, have rightly been held to account for these significant failings."