Hatfield rail bosses in court today
FIVE senior railway company executives go on trial today following manslaughter charges brought in the wake of the Hatfield train crash in which four people died.
The five men, three from Railtrack, which later became Network Rail, and two from the engineering company Balfour Beatty, have denied manslaughter. They also deny further charges brought under the Health and safety Act.
The Hatfield crash occurred in October 2000 when a London to Leeds express was derailed at 115mph by a cracked section of rail. The entire UK rail network was brought to a virtual standstill in the following months as safety inspectors combed rail lines for similar cracks.
Jurors in the case, which is expected to last up to a year, were asked to complete a two-page questionnaire to assess their suitability and availability for the trial.
The five men in the dock are: Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance Limited's regional director Anthony Walker, 46, and civil engineer Nicholas Jeffries, 53; Railtrack London North East zone asset managers Alistair Cook, 50, and Sean Fugill, 50; and Railtrack LNE track engineer Keith Lea, 53.
Balfour Beatty faces a corporate manslaughter charge and Network Rail faces health and safety charges. The manslaughter charges allege breach of duty amounting to gross negligence which materially contributed to the deaths.
The four who died were: Steve Arthur, 46, of Pease Pottage, West Sussex; Peter Monkhouse, 50, of Headingley, Leeds; Leslie Gray, 43, of Tuxford, Nottingham; and Robert Alcorn, 37, of Auckland, New Zealand.
The Health and Safety charges allege 'a failure to take reasonable care' for the safety of passengers travelling on the line.
