Pressure has been mounting for prosecutors to take action against the former chief executive of Massey Energy, which owned the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, when 29 coal workers were killed in an explosion in April 2010.

US Senator Joe Minchin said that he believed the troubles permeated from the top down, and that Blankenship, as chief executive, should bear the burden.

Minchin even went as far to say he believed Blankenship had blood on his hands in an interview with ABC News.

Proceedings of the case are said to be progressively going “up the line” to see whether conduct by the mine’s officers contributed to the explosion.

Accusations of a conspiracy to evade mine safety and health laws has been rife throughout the trial with Massey’s upper management accused of warning miners when a safety inspection would take place.

It has already been concluded that the loss of life could have been avoided if the mine had been operated more safely.

In response to the allegations, Blankenship has launched a pre-emptive public relations rampage, releasing a short film titled “Never Again”

The film offers what he claims is proof that the explosion was the outcome of an unanticipated outpouring of natural gas into the mine shaft and had nothing to do with the company’s safety inefficiencies.