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New Zealand's government dropped all charges yesterday against former Pike River Coal boss Peter Whittall.
Mr Whittall was charged last year with 12 counts of violating labour laws over a methane-fuelled blast in 2010 which killed 29 miners.
But government lawyers claimed that the probability of convicting Mr Whittall was low, given the available evidence.
The government dropped the charges in exchange for a £1.7 million payout to victims' families.
But the victims' bereaved relatives were furious.
Anna Osborne, whose husband died in the explosion, told the Herald newspaper she had lost faith in the justice system.
"It's just another slap in the face for the families," Ms Osborne said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's blood money."
And Neville Rockhouse, who lost one of his sons, said he was "gutted."
Mr Rockhouse called on Prime Minister John Key to reconsider his government's decision not to look at a corporate manslaughter law.
He said the message that came out of the "whole sorry, terrible tragedy" was that companies could do as they pleased.
"I believe there needs to be punitive measures and corporate manslaughter would achieve that," he added.
Miners union EPMU said it was disgraceful that charges had been dropped.
"It defies belief that Peter Whittall gets to walk away from the deaths of 29 miners scot-free," said assistant national secretary Ged O'Connell.
"This shows we need corporate manslaughter laws to hold managers to account."
"Twenty-nine men died at Pike River because of a culture which persecuted the union and put profits ahead of safety.
"Mr Whittall should still be in court. The government should show it will hold business accountable when people are killed at work by introducing corporate manslaughter legislation and scrapping their anti-union laws."
A government investigation found that the now-bankrupt coal company ignored 21 warnings that methane had accumulated to explosive levels in the mine.
The company was convicted in April of nine health and safety violations after it did not contest the charges.
