Fraudster who blew up town centre dies in prison

A man jailed for causing an explosion that destroyed a town centre has died in prison.

Pascal Blasio was jailed for what was described as an "almost apocalyptic" blast in New Ferry, Wirral, in 2017 that left 81 people injured.

He was jailed for 20 years for fraud and recklessly endangering life in 2019.

The Prison Service said there would be an investigation into the death of Blasio, 65, who died in HMP Rochester in Kent on 28 February.

The explosion, which happened at about 21:15 GMT of 25 March, 2017, could be heard up to five miles away.

It destroyed a precinct of shops, including Blasio's own business, Homes In Style, after he tampered with the gas supply.

One victim was said to have been left "clinging to life" after suffering a brain injury from the blast.

At his trial at Liverpool Crown Court in 2019, the judge, Thomas Teague, told Blasio, of Gillingham in Kent, that it was "a remarkable stroke of sheer good fortune" that no-one had been killed.

During the trial, the jury heard the explosion had been part of a plot to swindle £50,000 from his insurers.

Judge Thomas Teague told him he had "exhibited human selfishness in an almost chemically pure state", adding Blasio "did not care who else might suffer".

The explosion damaged 63 properties, and Wirral Council said at the time that it had been "probably the most significant disaster that the council and emergency services in the borough had ever faced in peacetime".

The regeneration of the area destroyed in the blast has taken almost a decade.

A Prison Service spokesman said: "HMP Rochester prisoner Pascal Blasio died on 28 February 2026.

"As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate."

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