London railway driver 'not fully trained'

LONDON - The train company whose driver jumped a red light, causing the Paddington disaster which killed two New Zealanders and 29 other people, admitted for the first time yesterday that he had not been fully instructed about his job.

Thames Trains conceded that Michael Hodder, a newly qualified driver, had not been examined on his knowledge of the part of the track - among the most complicated on the national network - where the crash happened.

On the first day of the inquiry into the disaster last October, Mr Hodder's employers also acknowledged that he had not been instructed about the risks of passing certain signals at "danger."

Concern centres on signal 109 - which Mr Hodder passed at red and which had been passed at danger on eight occasions since 1993.

Neither Mr Hodder nor Brian Cooper, the driver of the Great Western express with which he collided, should have been driving that day.

Thames Trains had failed to insist that Mr Hodder fill in an application form for his job in which he would have been forced to admit that he had a criminal record.

Management said it was "most unlikely" that the company would have taken him on if it had known he had a conviction for assault and affray.

Mr Cooper was driving the Great Western express only because a colleague had reported in sick. Both men died in the collision.

The inquiry also heard that a vital 25 seconds elapsed between the signal- box realising that the Thames train had jumped a red light and action being taken to prevent a crash.

Britain's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had earlier angered relatives by pre-empting the inquiry with an announcement that there was not enough evidence to prosecute any company or individual.

David Calvert-Smith had instead called for a new offence of "corporate killing" to be created for such cases.

Louise Christian, a lawyer for the victims' relatives, told reporters: "It's a matter of international shame the way in which the DPP took that decision yesterday."

Senior counsel Robert Owen told the inquiry that 75 per cent of the 575 passengers on the two trains had been killed or injured in the crash.

The New Zealanders killed were Matthew MacAuley and Allan Stuart, both of Auckland.

Senior Scottish judge Lord Cullen, who is chairing the inquiry, called for effective recommendations for the future safety of British rail travellers.

"We owe it to all those who have suffered in any way as a result of this disaster to make sure that its lessons are fully learned."

- INDEPENDENT