Croydon tram crash driver won’t face charges over disaster that killed 7 despite ‘falling asleep at wheel’
THE Croydon tram driver involved in the crash which killed seven people will not face charges despite him “falling asleep at the wheel”.
Driver Alfred Dorris, of Beckenham, south-east London, was arrested at the scene in 2016 and questioned on suspicion of manslaughter.
Charges of corporate manslaughter will also not be brought against Transport for London or operator Tram Operations Ltd, a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Seven people were killed and another 51 were injured when the tram derailed in south-east London on November 9, 2016.
The CPS said the "most likely" explanation of what happened was that the driver fell asleep, or microsleep of less than a minute, shortly before the tram derailed.
It added that if this was what happened then it was an "unintended and involuntary act".
It concluded: "There was no compelling evidence that the driver had done anything which he ought to have known could adversely affect his concentration or make him susceptible to falling asleep whilst driving the tram, nor was there evidence that he had culpably contributed to his negligent failure to drive the tram in a safe manner."
Jenny Hopkins, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: "The CPS has carefully reviewed all the available material in this case in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and concluded that the evidence does not support a prosecution of the driver for the offence of gross negligence manslaughter. We considered other criminal offences but the evidence did not support a prosecution.
"We fully recognise the impact this decision will have on families who have lost their loved ones and we have offered to meet with them to explain our reasons in full. Our thoughts remain with everybody affected by this tragedy."
Detective Superintendent Gary Richardson, who led the BTP investigation, said: "We know that this latest update may not be the news that many, including the family members who lost loved ones, had hoped for.
"But we are satisfied that every scrap of possible evidence has been scrutinised and, after lengthy consultation with the CPS, it has been concluded that the threshold to bring charges of manslaughter against the tram driver, TfL and Tram Operations Ltd, have not been met."
He added: "Since November 2016, we've been working alongside the Office of Rail and Road who continue to investigate whether Health and Safety legislation was breached during this incident.
"Those seven men and women, along with their loved ones, and every person affected by the events on that morning, are very much still at the forefront of our minds."
A Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) probe which published a report into the crash in December 2017 said Dorris may have fallen into a “microsleep” for up to 49 seconds.
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Dorris did apply the brakes but the tram was still travelling at 45mph when it passed a speed limit sign, entered the Sandilands corner and turned over onto its right-hand side.
People were “crushed under the tram as it slid for three seconds and 27 meters.
Some passengers described the crash that followed as "like being in a washing machine", the RAIB said.
