Court Proceedings Begin in Hatfield Crash Prosecution

The two companies and six men charged with manslaughter after the Hatfield rail crash have made their first court appearance. Representatives of Network Rail (the successor to Railtrack) and the maintenance contractor Balfour Beatty appeared before Central Hertfordshire Magistrates in St Albans on 14 July.

If found guilty, the individuals - Charles Pollard, director of Railtrack's north-east London zone; Alistair Cook, 50, infrastructure contracts manager for Railtrack in the same region; Sean Fugill, 50, the area asset manager for Railtrack; Anthony Walker, 46, regional director for Balfour Beatty; Nicholas Jeffries, 53, civil engineer for Balfour Beatty; and Keith Lea, 53, a track engineer for Railtrack - could face life imprisonment and the two companies could be ordered to pay unlimited fines.

A further six men face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act only. Both the companies and their employees have said they would defend themselves against the charges. All were given unconditional bail to appear at the Crown Court on 22 July. Unusually, the Court imposed an order withholding the home addresses of the 12 defendants after the Crown Prosecution Service and defence lawyers expressed concern that they might receive abuse.

Four people died and dozens more were injured in the October 2000 crash.
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