Stonehaven rail victims' lawyer on Network Rail conviction

Network Rail has today been prosecuted over the Stonehaven rail crash.

The conviction was confirmed at the High Court in Aberdeen after officials admitted breaching health and safety legislation which led to the August 2020 tragedy.

The derailment - which claimed the lives of three people and injured six passengers – happened when the train struck landslide debris on the line.

A Rail Accident Investigator Branch (RAIB) investigation confirmed the derailment happened after a drainage ditch failed following heavy rain – it emerged the ditch was not built to specifications and a catalogue of other human errors also contributed.

The RAIB report resulted in 20 safety recommendations and is understood to have played a key part in the conviction of Network Rail.

Neil Davidson, Partner at Digby Brown in Aberdeen, has helped seven people affected by the disaster.

He said: “The errors of Network Rail have robbed families of their loved ones and left survivors with physical injuries and psychological trauma they will suffer for the rest of their lives.

"The prosecution will be vindication for those affected that this incident was avoidable and should not have happened.

“We can’t forget that this derailment did not just happen because of one problem or issue – it was a frankly astounding volume and variety of negligence that contributed to this national tragedy.

“As the RAIB report confirmed, there were failures connected to drainage ditches, paperwork, staff communication, crisis management at a senior level and a weather monitoring system that frankly wasn’t fit purpose due to staff not being trained to use it.

“The people of Scotland need to know they can trust their public transport, trust that those who manage it are doing so responsibly at all times and trust that the justice system will deliver, when negligent parties do not uphold their duties.

“If there’s any thoughts about what happens next, the best thing that can happen is for the Office of Rail and Road to stay on top of Network Rail and ensure remedial work and improvements are made, quickly, to prevent an incident of this scale happening again.”