Network Rail fined £6.7m after admitting failings that led to fatal Stonehaven train crash
Network Rail has been fined £6.7m after admitting a series of failings which led to the deaths of three people in a train derailment near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire three years ago.
Train driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died when their train hit a landslide after heavy rain on 12 August, 2020.
Network Rail pleaded guilty to criminal charges at the High Court in Aberdeen on Thursday, avoiding what prosecutors said would have been a “considerable and complex” trial.
The fine, handed down by Judge Lord Matthews, was announced during a hearing at the same court on Friday and was dropped from £10m because the firm admitted culpability.
The company admitted failing to impose a speed restriction, warn Mr McCullough that part of the track was unsafe or ask him to reduce his speed.
It also admitted a number of failures over the maintenance and inspection of drainage in the area, and in adverse and extreme weather planning.
Lord Matthews said no penalty could compensate for the loss suffered by the families of those who died and of the six people on board the train who were injured.
Representing Network Rail, defence counsel Peter Gray said the three men had died in “the most appalling and tragic circumstances”.
He said the company extended the “deepest and most profound sympathies” to relatives, and that what happened had “shook Network Rail to its core”.
“Its acceptance of its shortcomings was both immediate and genuine,” he added.
“Its co-operation with all investigations was absolute. And its response to ensure so far as reasonably possible that such tragedy should not be repeated was comprehensive and continues.”
The disaster occurred when the 6.38am service hit washed-out debris at Carmont, south of Stonehaven, as it tried to return to Aberdeen after finding its route to Glasgow blocked.
Almost a month’s rain had fallen in the area between 6am and 9am on the day of the crash, which happened at 9.37am, with a drainage system also being incorrectly installed.
On Thursday, the court heard how Mr Stuchbury had died on his wedding anniversary, with his wife Diane saying he was making “once last trip before retirement”.
In a statement read out by prosecutor Alex Prentice KC, she added: “On that day in 2020, our lives were ripped apart. He and I have been robbed of a future together as a family.”
Among those who survived the crash was conductor Nicola Whyte, 31, who was travelling on the train as a passenger as the service she had initially been allocated to travel on had been cancelled.
In a statement read out in court by Mr Prentice, Ms Whyte said her life had “completely changed” since the crash.
She said: “I have suffered three years of anxiety, nightmares and being unable to sleep. I jump at loud noises and rarely use buses or trains anymore, and aeroplanes are out of the question.”
