Network Rail fined £6.7m over fatal train crash in Scotland
Network Rail has been fined £6.7m after pleading guilty to health and safety failings over a train crash that claimed three lives.
The fine was originally going to be £10m, but was reduced by a third in recognition of the guilty plea.
Train driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died when the train derailed at Carmont, near Stonehaven in northeast Scotland, on 12 August 2020.
The morning ScotRail service from Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street derailed after it hit a landslide following heavy rain.
Of the nine people on board the 6.38am service, three were killed and six were injured after the train hit gravel and other debris that had washed onto the track.
Sentencing, Judge Lord Matthews said: “No penalty I can impose will come close to compensating those whose lives have been touched by this tragedy.
“The only disposal I have is a fine.”
He said very few people in the northeast of Scotland “will ever forget” the images of the derailed carriages.
On Thursday at the High Court in Aberdeen, Network Rail admitted a charge covering the period from May 1 2011 to August 12 2020.
It admitted it failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practical, that railway workers not in its employment and members of the public travelling by train were not exposed to the “risk of serious injury and death from train derailment” as a result of failures in the construction, inspection and maintenance of drainage assets and in adverse and extreme weather planning.
The company also admitted it failed to impose an emergency speed restriction “in absence of current information about the integrity of the railway line and drainage assets between Montrose and Stonehaven”, and failed to inform the driver that it was unsafe to drive the train at a speed of 75mph or caution him to reduce his speed.
The court was told an investigation found if a drainage channel that overflowed on the day of the crash had been built correctly it would have been able to cope with the washout of gravel that led to the incident.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found there had been no inspection of the drain following its completion and Network Rail failed to ensure it was built to the correct specification by Carillion, which was subcontracted to undertake the work more than a decade ago.
Carillion went into compulsory liquidation in January 2018.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice KC, prosecuting, told the court there had been severe weather resulting in disruption across the rail network in northeast Scotland on the day of the crash.
He said passengers affected by cancelled trains as a result of torrential rain described it as “biblical”, and both Aberdeenshire Council and Aberdeen City Council had declared a major emergency due to the weather.
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Mr Prentice told the court that recordings of a conversation between Mr McCullough and the Carmont area signaller prior to the crash confirmed the train driver queried whether there was a reduced speed limit in place on the line to Stonehaven.
The signaller told Mr McCullough: “Eh no, everything’s fine between myself and Stonehaven.”
The court was told that when Mr McCullough pulled the emergency brake, there was “insufficient time” for it to have any impact on the train’s speed.
The crash happened shortly before 9.40am when the train was on its way back to Aberdeen.
The train hit the side of a bridge, causing its power car and one of its four carriages to fall down an embankment.
UK
MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace steps down as Kirsty Wark among 13 who claim he made inappropriate sexual jokes
MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has stepped down over allegations he made a series of inappropriate sexual comments on a range of programmes over 17 years.
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark is among 13 people who have made claims, with Wallace being investigated by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.
In an interview with the BBC, the Newsnight presenter, who was a celebrity contestant on MasterChef in 2011, claimed Wallace used “sexualised language”.
“There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn’t as if it was anyone engaged with this,” Wark said.
“It was completely one-way traffic. I think people were uncomfortable and something that I really didn’t expect to happen.”
Sky News has contacted Wallace’s representative for comment.
Kirsty Wark. File pic: PA
‘Fully cooperating’
Banijay UK said the complaints were made to the BBC this week by “individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with Gregg Wallace on one of our shows”.
The company said the 60-year-old, who has been a co-presenter and judge of the popular cooking show since 2005, was “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”.
“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate,” the company said.
“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process.
“Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.
“Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.
“We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.
“Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”
Previous investigation
Last month, Wallace responded to reports that a previous BBC review had found he could continue working at the corporation following reports of an alleged incident in 2018 when he appeared on Impossible Celebrities.
Wallace said those claims had been investigated “promptly” at the time and said he had not said “anything sexual” while appearing on the game show more than half a decade ago.
In an Instagram post following an article in The Sun newspaper, he wrote: “The story that’s hitting the newspapers was investigated promptly when it happened six years ago by the BBC.
“And the outcome of that was that I hadn’t said anything sexual. I’ll need to repeat this again. I didn’t say anything sexual.”
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Alongside MasterChef, Wallace presented Inside The Factory for BBC Two from 2015.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014. Pic: PA
Wallace has featured on various BBC shows over the years, including Saturday Kitchen, Eat Well For Less, Supermarket Secrets, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, as well as being a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2014.
He was made an MBE for services to food and charity last year.
Recorded episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals featuring Wallace will be transmitted as planned, the PA news agency understands.
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