French firm guilty of safety breaches in rollercoaster death

A French firm has been found guilty of breaches of health and safety law after the death of a 20-year-old student on a rollercoaster.

Durham University student Gemma Savage died when two cars collided on the Treetop Twister ride at the Lightwater Valley theme park, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, on June 20, 2001.

Paris-based Reverchon Industries SA, which manufactured and supplied the ride, was found guilty of two charges of failing to ensure its safe design and construction, and failing to give information necessary to ensure the ride was safe when open to the public.

As the verdict was read out at Leeds Crown Court, Miss Savage's family, who have attended every day of the four-day trial, were visibly shaken.

Reverchon, which failed to answer charges, will be sentenced a week on Friday.

The court heard that a wiring fault, which should have been discovered during the company's quality control testing process, meant the ride's control system was not safe.