Families of the seven killed in the Croydon tram crash have branded the accidental ruling an “absolute farce” and are demanding a court challenge.
The surviving relatives are furious the jury did not get to hear from Tram Operations Limited and Transport for London.
On the morning of November 9, 2016, a tram derailed at the Sandilands Junction killing seven local people on their way to work.
Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, from Croydon all died that day.
The jury concluded that the seven deaths were accidental on Thursday (July 22).
In the jury’s narrative conclusion they said the driver lost awareness and became disorientated “probably due to a micro-sleep” as he approached the bend.
The jury also said that First Group, the owner of TOL which runs the Croydon Trams, had a risk assessment system that “failed to sufficiently identify the risk of the tram overturning and crashing at the tight Sandilands curve at high speed with the probabilities of fatalities.”
They added: “The lack of a ‘just culture’ discouraged drivers from reporting health and safety concerns.”
Now the families will call on the attorney general, Michael Ellis, to apply to the High Court to order a new inquest.
They will also seek a judicial review of the senior coroner for South London, Ms Sarah Ormond-Walshe’s interpretation of the law which meant that the jury did not hear any oral evidence from TOL and TFL.
Danielle Whetter, the granddaughter of Philip Logan, was tearful after the conclusion.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I am feeling disappointed how can this be left like this? Accidental death, I never thought we’d get that, I genuinely thought it would swing the other way to unlawful killing.
“The companies are just getting away with it, I can’t believe we didn’t hear from them at all.
“The driver hasn’t appeared, that is due to PTSD. But what about us? The families having to suffer the mental health effects of this.
Seven people lost their lives in the derailment
(Image: Adam Gerrard/Daily Mirror)
“This isn’t the end, we’ve got to go further, I know together with the other families we can get justice.”
Jean Smith, 64, mother of Mark Smith, said she was “bitterly disappointed” by the outcome.
She said: “It has been a total farce as we have only heard half of the evidence and no one who could potentially have been responsible for the crash has been called as a witness.
“It’s morally wrong that we haven’t been able to hear from anybody from TfL, TOL or the driver during the proceedings, whatever legal precedent says. It feels like they have been able to hide from giving evidence and it simply isn’t fair or just. Justice has been suffocated because of the coroner’s ruling.”
Ben Posford from Osbornes Law, the lead solicitor for five of the seven families, said that they are angry and upset at today’s conclusion.
He said: “They have had an agonising wait for justice but have been let down by the process that has allowed the managers of TfL and TOL to dodge giving evidence and avoid giving the families the answers they so desperately need. Instead of gaining a greater understanding of how and why their loved ones died, they have been badly let down.
“Ultimately they feel that nobody has been held accountable for the tragic events almost five years ago and will keep fighting for justice for their loved ones.”
Matthew Gregory, FirstGroup chief executive: “Since the incident, we have fully engaged with all subsequent investigations, implementing recommendations that arose from them and will take into account any further learnings that may arise from the inquest. FirstGroup has an unwavering commitment to safety, it is front and centre to our culture and to everything we do.”
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