“Not defending them but if Hayward knew it would blow, why didnt he order drilling stopped and safety precautions put into place?”
This is fairly old news. An internal report back in March 2010 summarized all of the problems they were having. The same month Hayward sold 1/3 of his BP stock.
Yes, it is criminal that they proceeded with the “completion” of the well against the arguements of the driller and other crew on the rig that had been living and battling this beast for months.