Wednesday 9 Jul 2003

HATFIELD CHARGES STATEMENT

Region & Route:
National
Network Rail can confirm that Nicholas Pollard, Alistair Cook, Sean Fugill and Keith Lea have today been charged by the Crown with involuntary manslaughter and an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.  Chris Leah has been charged with an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act. As a consequence of its acquisition of Railtrack Plc, Network Rail has been charged with corporate manslaughter and offences under Health and Safety legislation. Both the Company and its employees fully intend to defend themselves against these charges. As the company stated last week, we believe that our employees conduct their duties to the best of their abilities with the sole intention of delivering a safe, reliable and efficient railway network. It is now a matter for the courts and it would be inappropriate to comment further. 

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