Driver Alfred Dorris has entered a not guilty plea to a charge of failing to take reasonable care of passengers as an employee

Seven people died and 51 were injured in the Croydon tram crash six years ago, and two transport companies announced today that they will plead guilty to health and safety violations.

After the Croydon Tramlink service derailed in South London on November 9, 2016, Transport for London (TfL), FirstGroup-owned Tram Operations Limited (TOL), and driver Alfred Dorris were charged with health and safety violations.

TfL manages the tram, while TOL operates it. Both have indicated that they will enter a guilty plea. The first hearing in regards to a criminal case in relation to the crash took place today at Croydon Magistrates’ Court.

Driver Alfred Dorris has entered a not guilty plea to a charge of failing to take reasonable care of passengers as an employee. Wearing a navy shirt and black jacket, he stood in the dock this morning to confirm his identity.

Dorris, 48, of Beckenham, was freed on unconditional bail by District Judge Nigel Dean and is due back at Croydon Crown Court on July 8. The brief session was attended by a number of heartbroken relatives.
TfL and TOL will both be punished at Croydon Crown Court on an undisclosed date for failing to guarantee the health and safety of passengers to the best of their abilities.

Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all of New Addington, and Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both of Croydon, were among those killed in the crash.

After approaching a curve at 45mph, the tram toppled over and spun off the tracks near the Sandilands stop in darkness and heavy rain, according to an inquest last year (73kph). The speed limit on that stretch of road was 12 miles per hour (20kph).

According to the charge, TOL and TfL failed to ensure that passengers “were not exposed to risks to their health or safety, namely the risk of injury or death attendant upon a high speed derailment on the Croydon Tram Network, including on the approach to the Sandilands junction,” in violation of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The Office of Rail and Road is the prosecutor in charge of the case. Individuals who are convicted of health and safety violations face a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine and up to two years in prison.

‘We conducted an extensive, detailed, and thorough investigation and decided to prosecute all three parties for what we believe to be serious health and safety failings relating to the Croydon tram derailment on November 9, 2016, which killed seven passengers and seriously injured many more,’ said Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser. All of our thoughts and prayers are with those individuals.

‘The case has now been sent to the Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing in order to manage the case and schedule future hearings,’ says the statement.

TfL stated that entering a guilty plea will allow court proceedings to ‘come to a conclusion as soon as possible.’

‘The Sandilands tragedy will never be forgotten, and our thoughts remain with everyone affected,’ said Andy Lord, TfL’s chief operating officer.

‘Since November 2016, we’ve been working closely with the RAIB and the ORR to introduce a new safety regime and implement all of the organizations’ recommendations across the tram network.’

‘This has made the network safer for everyone and we continue to work tirelessly to ensure that such a tragedy could never occur again.

‘We agreed to all of the RAIB’s safety recommendations and accepted liability to ensure civil claims could proceed as soon as possible.

‘At the first hearing of the ORR’s prosecution, we have indicated a guilty plea to the charge under the Health and Safety Act. This will also enable these proceedings to come to a conclusion as promptly as possible.

‘We have delivered robust and lasting safety improvements since 2016 and we continue to review our operations and work with the wider tram industry to ensure that we have the safest possible network.’