Merseyrail Guard on Trial

[BestWestern]

An update has appeared on the Daily Mail's website regarding the drunken teen who fell between train and platform in Liverpool and sadly died.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-guard-blew-whistle.html?ICO=most_read_module

In the dock, guard who 'sent drunken teenage girl to her death under wheels of a train'

A teenage girl fell under the wheels of a moving train because the guard gave the order to set off as she drunkenly leaned against the carriage, a court heard yesterday.

Georgia Varley, 16, was killed instantly when she fell between the platform and the train during a night out to celebrate a friend’s 18th birthday.

Yesterday the guard who signalled for the train to set off, Christopher McGee, 45, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court charged with manslaughter.

McGee, of Wallasey, Wirral, denies manslaughter and also a charge of failing to ensure the safety of others. (read more)

The article does make mention of the fact that she was not only drunk but also seemingly had been taking drugs, and picks up on the fact that she and her group were clearly acting like idiots during their journey, so not overly one-sided as I had first expected.

My thoughts continue to go to the Guard, who clearly made a very grave mistake but will now spend the rest of his life thinking of little else. I have to wonder how many male Guards, myself included, would want to confront a group of drunk female teenagers late in the evening without fearing being accused of God knows what; how sad that in this case what was probably based on avoiding just that has had such far greater consequences

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In recent years, have there been any similar instances of an inebriated passenger similar to the girl in the story, meeting their demise.

If so, what what the outcome of the court case?

 

[BestWestern]

I don't recall any where the Guard was deemed responsible, but there have been deaths. One occurred a couple of years back around Portsmouth somewhere I think, a girl running alongside the train with her friends on board, she went down and didn't come back up. Don't remember if she was drunk though. There have likely been others.

It's a difficult one to call; you get drunken idiots staggering around, they're a decent distance away when you close up and give the tip, but you know full well they could quite easily walk towards the train as it pulls out. Should we all really be waiting until they leave the platform before we go, just in case?!

 

[34D]

Why aren't the parents in the dock for failing to prevent their drunken under age daughter from behaving?

The way she has her bra on show on one picture shows the sort of the thing that male guards are up against when confronted with these female groups.

 

[Clip]

Why aren't the parents in the dock for failing to prevent their drunken under age daughter from behaving?

The way she has her bra on show on one picture shows the sort of the thing that male guards are up against when confronted with these female groups.

Im sorry but what a pair of crass statements both your sentences are.

Why should her parents, who you may not have noticed have lost their daughter, be in the dock? She was a young girl out to celebrate her friends birthday - parents are not there to watch over their children 24 hours a day - I bet yours let you go out when you were 16 with out any supervision from them and maybe you even had some alcohol around that age and got a little drunk yourself? Yes there should be some responsibility on the girls part herself for what she was doing but come on you cant really stand by your first sentence surely?

So she is wearing a vest top with a small part of her bra on show - so what? You dont know whether that picture was taken whilst she was on holiday ion a hot country or even a hot night in this country so how on earth can you say something like that?

Are you a guard? Im not, but certainly in my line of work over the last 16 years or so I have encountered both male and female drunnks around on my stations and not once has the fact that they may not be wearing very much ever put me off from confronting them just because they were wearing skimpy clothing or falling over so that one can see their underwear, if they were wearing any - both male and female.

Im sorry but its your sort of attitude at times like this that really do annoy me. Yes the young girl needs some culpability for her drunken actions BUT from the facts we know so far he gave the signal with her leaning on the train and apparently then stated that she had moved away - seemingly contrary to CCTV footage that shows she didnt.

I feel for the guard, I really do, its a set of tragic circumstances that have led to this young girls death and it will be on his mind for the rest of his life, but comments like yours where you are trying to appropriate the blame on to her parents and then also on to her for what she is wearing is nothing short of disgusting.

 

[blacknight]

Im sorry but its your sort of attitude at times like this that really do annoy me. Yes the young girl needs some culpability for her drunken actions BUT from the facts we know so far he gave the signal with her leaning on the train and apparently then stated that she had moved away - seemingly contrary to CCTV footage that shows she didnt.

I feel for the guard, I really do, its a set of tragic circumstances that have led to this young girls death and it will be on his mind for the rest of his life, but comments like yours where you are trying to appropriate the blame on to her parents and then also on to her for what she is wearing is nothing short of disgusting.

IMO your comments are prejudging the case based on journalist paper reporting on prosecutions opening statement based a 30 second CCTV clip. Lets wait for jury in the case to decided on that.
Just because theres CCTV cameras they give differing angle of view to what guard could see & if you read Liverpool Echo report from 4 Feb this year & girl was clear of train putting shoes on when doors were closed. So case is not quite as clear cut as prosecution would have you think.
Innocent until proven guilty me thinks also this case makes point for station platforms to be manned at all times to protect public from themselves.

 

[IanXC]

I have made a couple of edits on this thread.

Can everyone please be mindful that there is an ongoing Criminal case when posting.

 

[sonorguy]

Why aren't the parents in the dock for failing to prevent their drunken under age daughter from behaving?

The way she has her bra on show on one picture shows the sort of the thing that male guards are up against when confronted with these female groups.

Perfect example of why a little bit of thought is required before posting....

and one of the most ridiculous posts I've seen on this board (including from me).

I'm sure the vast majority of guards see things much more difficult to be 'up against' than a small amount of bra. Even more ironic given your user name and avatar.

It will be interesting to see how this case pans out in the end.

 

[158801]

It's a tragic waste of a life.

Sometimes being a guard you can not do right for doing wrong.

We are told that it's unsafe to lean out of the window of a moving train - but we have to stand by our door until the train has left the platform.

We can not see what's happening on the platform unless it is right in front of us.

I was at a station on Saturday evening seeing a friend off. I was stood close to the train talking to them -it was an HST.

The guard shouted at me - saying "MOVE AWAY FROM THE TRAIN".

My first impression was "little hitler" and "that wasn't said very nicely".

With hindsight I realise that the guard was looking out for me and for themselves. Had they not have warned me to move back they would have possibly faced a criminal conviction for my death

 

[Matt Taylor]

I don't recall any where the Guard was deemed responsible, but there have been deaths. One occurred a couple of years back around Portsmouth somewhere I think, a girl running alongside the train with her friends on board, she went down and didn't come back up. Don't remember if she was drunk though. There have likely been others.

That was at Emsworth and happened with a Class 377 and I recall that the platform edge was clear when the guard gave the tip but something happened as the train started moving that the guard could not have seen.

It will be interesting to see if some TOCs issue instructions to despatch from a cab if you think think there is a risk of someone falling down the gap.

 

[Smethwickian]

I have made a couple of edits on this thread.

Can everyone please be mindful that there is an ongoing Criminal case when posting.

Writing as a journalist of 24 years' experience (nine of them as a local newspaper editor) I would go further and express surprise that the thread is even being allowed to continue when direct comment is being made on an ongoing case. No newspaper I work for or have ever worked for would risk prejudicial comment by allowing them on live court cases.

 

[blacknight]

RAIB have completed its investigation in to this incident but not publishing findings until court case as concluded at request of CPS.

 

[pemma]

According to the news on TV yesterday the guard was asked to give a statement to the police after the incident and he originally omitted to say that the girl was leaning on the side of the train when he signalled to the driver it was clear to go.

Do we know what length the train was (3 or 6 carriages) and how busy the platform was at the time?

 

[blacknight]

Liverpool Daily Post 24/10/2011 reports 40-50 people on platform at time of incident.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Its tragic and think thats all that can be said about it. Could it be avoided? possibly... but thats the way the world is.

I do not like the crown court are saying the guard was the only person who could have stopped it. Pretty sure if she wasn't drunk and on drugs it wouldn't have happened either so i think that is unfair.

 

[blacknight]

Think BBC are quoting what Crown Prosecution QC said in court same reported in Daily Mail, I find Mail article headline more offencive & prejudging of the case.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Think BBC are quoting what Crowns QC said in court

Yeah just re-read it and come back to edit what i said Thanks.

 

[Max]

Since this thread documents an ongoing court case I have decided to lock it for the time being to avoid prejudicing the trial.

 

[bb21]

I have reopened this thread as the court has made its decision. Please keep discussions on topic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-20328125

A Merseyrail guard has been found guilty of causing the death of a 16-year-old girl who died after falling under a train at a Liverpool station.

Georgia Varley, from Moreton, Wirral, died when she fell between the carriage and platform at James Street station in October 2011.

Christopher McGee, 45, had denied manslaughter but was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court.

He signalled for the driver to depart as Miss Varley leant against the train.

McGee, of Wallasey, Wirral, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and the jury was then discharged from reaching a verdict in an alternative, lesser charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Miss Varley, a sixth-form college student, had been at a house party before going into Liverpool for a night out with her friends when the tragedy happened on Saturday 22 October last year.

A blood analysis following her death showed she had 236mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in her system - the legal driving limit is 80mg.

She also had the drug mephedrone in her system at the time of her death.

 

[transportphoto]

All I can say is it really empathises the importance of looking out during dispatch, this could have been prevented. But hang on, are they supposed to wait at a station just because there's someone on the platform who could possibly fall between the train and the platform? No. I don't think so.

I really hope Chris appeals the verdict.

TP

 

[pemma]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-20328125

One thing that was mentioned the other night on the news not in that article is the guard admitted to allowing trains to depart on multiple occasions with someone leaning on them because he said it would delay trains if he waited each time.

 

[nedchester]

I hope he appeals.

The fallout from this could be very interesting. Will anyone who is over the limit no longer be allowed to travel?

 

[Ferret]

Speaking outside court, Miss Varley's mother, Paula Redmond, 41, said: "Christopher McGee will complete his sentence and return to his family. Mine is now gone forever.

"We have listened as our daughter was portrayed as being a drunken liability when, in all honesty, she did no more than what many teenagers do of a weekend - she went out to celebrate her friend's birthday.

"The only liability that night was a train guard whom Georgia had the catastrophic misfortune to encounter.

"For he had very little, if any, regard at all for our daughter and her safety."

And therein lies the problem with the attitudes so prevalent in modern society.

 

[bb21]

"We have listened as our daughter was portrayed as being a drunken liability when, in all honesty, she did no more than what many teenagers do of a weekend - she went out to celebrate her friend's birthday.

"The only liability that night was a train guard whom Georgia had the catastrophic misfortune to encounter.

Just because that is what many teenagers do does not make her daughter less of a liability if she was so drunk that she could not look after herself. It was a tragic accident. No more, no less. Blaming the guard is not going to bring her daughter back.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Just because that is what many teenagers do does not make her daughter less of a liability if she was so drunk that she could not look after herself. It was a tragic accident. No more, no less. Blaming the guard is not going to bring her daughter back.

No, but blaming the Guard does allow her to forget the fact that her daughter was not only drunk but also high on illegal drugs. She claims that she was only doing what most teenagers do at a weekend? Really? So most teenagers take illegal drugs every weekend do they? I don't think so.

 

[GB]

Being drunk and having drugs in her system, is it not a possibility that she became disoriented by the moving train?

It is of course sad that a young girl has died, and I feel for the family in that respect, but it really whines me up when the "victim" is portrayed as an angel and the legal guardians take no responsibility for their actions.

 

[tony6499]

No, but blaming the Guard does allow her to forget the fact that her daughter was not only drunk but also high on illegal drugs. She claims that she was only doing what most teenagers do at a weekend? Really? So most teenagers take illegal drugs every weekend do they? I don't think so.

Exactly blaming the guard allows her parents to avoid looking in the mirror and asking why their daughter was allowed to take drugs and get drunk to such an extent

 

[185]

Merseyrail Senior Manager Liam Willis utterly crucified this guard in court. Didn't really say much in Chris McGee's defence. In throwing everything and the kitchen sink at this guard, it worries me that Liam Willis forgot he was in a Crown Court on a criminal case and not (yet) another of his Employment Tribunals.

I still feel there were factors to this case which went overlooked, and the CPS did not properly understand much of the rule book, traction bulletins and handbooks their barrister, Nicholas Johnson QC quoted so much from.

I'm aware something interesting may emerge about this case on Friday, when the RAIB report is supposed to come out.

 

[merlodlliw]

And therein lies the problem with the attitudes so prevalent in modern society.

[/QUOTE]

You are so right, I feel so sorry for the good honest hard working guard who had the misfortune to be there, the comments by the parents sound more like accusing a drunk motorist, not all teenagers get stoned.

 

[All Line Rover]

And therein lies the problem with the attitudes so prevalent in modern society.

That quote in the article is one of the most offensive, arrogant comments I have read in a long time. To claim that this girl was not a liability by larking about on a station platform in a drunken state, under the influence of an illegal drug and leaning against a train about to depart is laughable. Whilst the guard may have contributed to her death, I could not disagree more with the verdict of him being guilty of 'causing' her death.