Verdict of ‘unlawful killing’ for Selby victims
An inquest jury ruled on Friday that the six passengers and four railway employees that died in the Selby train crash were killed unlawfully.
The jury of five men and six women returned a unanimous verdict in three hours on the ten deaths caused by the rail disaster at Great Heck, near Selby, on February 28th 2001.
The inquest began on Monday at Harrogate’s Majestic Hotel and was chaired by West Yorkshire coroner David Hinchliff.
The crash occurred when a Land Rover, being driven by Gary Hart, plunged off the M62 motorway onto the East Coast main line.
The high-speed GNER express train struck the vehicle and then ploughed into a fully laden freight train travelling in the opposite direction.
Hart, of Strubby, Lincolnshire, was later convicted of 10 counts of causing death by dangerous driving and sentenced to five years in prison.
Mr Hinchliff directed the jury to return verdicts of unlawful killing, pointing out that the verdicts could not contradict the earlier criminal proceedings against Hart.
At a news conference following the verdict, police officers and relatives of the victims gave their reactions.
Detective chief superintendent Nick Bracken, who led the investigation on behalf of British Transport Police, said the verdicts had brought a degree of closure and added, “Quite simply, today we delivered promises made to the families involved to ensure that every aspect of the incident was looked at and checked.”
