Rail firm faces £1m fine over passenger killed as he leaned out of train window

Safety breach: Simon Brown
CENTRAL NEWS

One of London’s biggest train firms is facing a hefty fine over the death of a passenger who suffered catastrophic injuries when he put his head out of an unlocked carriage window.

Railway enthusiast Simon Brown, 24, was struck on the head by a signal gantry when he leaned out of the Gatwick Express train as it approached Wandsworth Common station.

An inquest into his death found Mr Brown had put his head out of a publicly accessible “droplight” window.

Rail investigators said there was a sticker on the door warning passengers against leaning out, but it was “cluttered” with other signs.

At Southwark crown court yesterday, Govia Thameslink Railway — which runs the service — pleaded guilty to a health and safety breach over Mr Brown’s death on August 7, 2016. Patrick Verwer, who was appointed chief executive last year, sat in court as the company admitted the breach.

Govia Thameslink Railway which runs the service pleaded guilty to a health and safety breach
PA Wire/PA Images

The court heard the train was travelling at about 61mph at the time Mr Brown suffered the fatal injury. He was found collapsed on the train floor by a fellow passenger, having suffered a “massive trauma” to his head.

Mr Brown was described by his family as a “train fanatic” and as a 13-year-old he volunteered on the Bluebell steam railway near his family home in East Grinstead, West Sussex. He had recently taken up a position with Hitachi Rail Europe in Bristol and was about to move in with his girlfriend.

James Maxwell-Scott, representing GTR, said the firm takes the criminal charge very seriously and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman said the starting point in sentencing this offence is a fine of £1.1 million, though Mr Maxwell-Scott said GTR was not due to turn a profit this year and asked the judge to take this into consideration.

Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC adjourned sentencing until tomorrow.

Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risk to their health and safety.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in