Alton Towers operator fined £5m over Smiler rollercoaster crash
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined £5 million after admitting health and safety breaches over the Smiler rollercoaster crash which left two Barnsley teenagers seriously injured.
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined £5 million after admitting health and safety breaches over the Smiler rollercoaster crash which left two Barnsley teenagers seriously injured.
Leah Washington lost a leg in the collision in June 2015, while her boyfriend Joe Pugh had his knees shattered.
Another teenager - Vicky Balch, then 19 - also had to have her leg amputated following the incident which changed the lives of some of those injured in the most dramatic way'', according to a judge.
Stafford Crown Court heard that the victims had watched with disbelief and horror'' before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened by the prosecution to a 90mph car crash.
The company was fined after the court heard that an engineer felt pressure'' to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.
An expert witness report, compiled by consultant Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to acceptably low levels of downtime'' on their rollercoasters.
Paul Paxton, Partner at Stewarts Law, who is representing eight of the victims, said: “Merlin’s initial defence was human error – implying that on the day, a person made a poor judgement call.
"Yet the reality of the situation, having heard the full case, is that there was a catalogue of failures culminating in the tragedy that day.”
On behalf of the families, Paul added: “This has never been about retribution; this is about learning from what happened and ensuring that it doesn’t happen again at any theme park.
"No amount of punishment is ever going to compensate for what these victims and their families have endured.
"The families would like once again to express their gratitude to the HSE for the manner in which they have dealt with this case, for their thoroughness and their support throughout.”