A tram driver who misjudged a bend, leading to a crash which killed seven people in south London has been acquitted of failing to take reasonable care at work.
Alfred Dorris, 49, denied falling asleep moments before crashing tram 2551, carrying 69 passengers, at Sandilands near Croydon on Nov. 9, 2016.
Dorris was originally arrested on suspicion of manslaughter but he was charged with failing to take reasonable care, an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and was acquitted at the Old Bailey on Monday after the jury deliberated for under two hours.
Seven people—Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, Philip Logan, 52, Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35—died and many others were injured.
Logan’s granddaughter, Danielle Wynne, 32, said: “A not guilty verdict to me is like someone stabbing me in the chest. It feels so deflating.”
Wynne told PA Media: “If I got into my car and I did what he did at the speed that he did, then I would go to prison ... Our family feels truly let down by the justice system.”
‘There has to be Some Kind of Accountability’
After Dorris was acquitted, Wynne said: “I don’t believe that morning he set out to kill anyone. But he did kill people. There has to be some kind of accountability. As far as I’m concerned, accident or not, he’s taken no accountability for his actions that morning.”“There was only one person who was in control of that tram on that morning, and it was that driver,” she added.
An inquest jury in 2021 ruled the crash had been accidental and the deaths were not unlawful killings.
But despite that the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) decided to prosecute Dorris.
Transport for London (TfL) and Tram Operations Limited (ToL) admitted health and safety offences in 2022 in relation to “significant failings” before the derailment. They will be sentenced at a later date.
The trial jury was told tram 2551 from New Addington to Wimbledon via East Croydon was travelling much too fast when it derailed on a sharp corner at Sandilands during the morning rush hour.
The tram was travelling in excess of 43 miles per hour at a point where, in order to safely negotiate the curve, drivers were advised to slow to 12 miles per hour.
Survivors described being “flung” about as if they were inside a washing machine.
Driver Denied ‘Micro-Sleep’ to Blame
He denied he had fallen into a “micro-sleep” and blamed his confusion on a combination of poor lighting and confusing signage in the Sandilands tunnel complex, bad weather and darkness.Dorris apologised to all the victims’ families and the survivors when he gave evidence last week.
He said: “I’m a human being and sometimes as a human being things happen to you that you are not in control of. I’m sorry that I became disorientated. I’m sorry I was not able to do anything to stop myself from becoming disorientated.”
“I’m deeply sorry I was not able to do anything to reorientate myself and stop the tram from turning over. I’m deeply sorry,” he added.
Dorris had an “impeccable” record as a driver and his defence barrister, Miles Bennett, pointed out there had been an almost identical accident 10 days earlier, involving a different driver.
He was in tears when the verdict was read out.
The ORR said in a statement: “We conducted an extensive, detailed and thorough investigation and took the decision to prosecute Transport for London, Tram Operations Limited and driver Alfred Dorris for what we believed to be serious health and safety failings relating to the Croydon tram derailment.”
“The trial of Alfred Dorris concluded today. We note the decision reached and will consider this appropriately,” they added.
“Our thoughts remain with those affected by the tragedy,” the statement concluded.
