Families to sue rail bosses after boys injured by live wire in yard Depot should have done more to prevent people getting in, claims lawyer
THE families of three boys who were injured after they broke into a Midland railway depot are to sue rail bosses.
The 13-year-olds were injured last summer when they played in a giant rail storage yard at Bescot, besides the M6, in Walsall.
Now their families are suing rail bosses for the physical injuries and “psychological trauma” they suffered.
One boy was injured when he came into contact with a 25,000 volt cable, another suffered minor burns, while the third was left traumatised after witnessing it.
Their families have hired a lawyer to sue railway bosses over the accident, claiming they should have done more to stop the boys getting into the yard.
The lawyer is also warning other children and young people to take heed of what happened to the boys and not play near the railways over the summer holidays.
The families claim a “big gaping hole” in the fence had not been repaired and allowed the boys to get in and play.
They want compensation for the “psychological trauma” the boys suffered, as well as their physical injuries.
The accident happened last June at the railway depot in Bescot on parkland next to Durham Road, near Wednesbury.
Lawyer Tony Hannington, a partner at Birmingham personal injury firm Lime Solicitors, said: “One of the boys had climbed on top of a train carriage which was in the yard when he came into contact with a live high-voltage cable. His friend saw this happen and pushed him away from the cable and fell to the ground and was also injured.
“The third boy wasn’t physically injured but saw all this happen and left with major stress.”
The boys are now aged 14 and live in West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Walsall .
One was in a critical condition in hospital at first, and is now left with significant burns to his whole body which required skin grafts and his treatment is still ongoing.
He said all boys had suffered extreme trauma, had been left with pyschological injuries and their school work had suffered.
Mr Hannington said he was taking legal action against the railway company which operated the Bescot yard because they had failed to take adequate measures to stop people trespassing.
“It is well known that children, commonly teenagers, will play upon railway property, or enter to ‘train surf ’,” Mr Hannington said.
“The fact that they are not permitted to be there does not absolve the railway operator or landowner of any responsibilities to the children trespassing.”
He said local people had told him that there was a “big gaping hole” in the metal fence protecting the site for some time after metal thieves had cut it to gain access to the site.
“It had been there for some time and nothing had been done about it,” he said. “After the event, they put up a warning sign, but hadn’t done anything to repair it.
“It was used as a cut-through by local people a lot, as well as children playing there.”
Mr Hannington said the legal action was in its early stages and the families wanted a financial settlement to cover injuries and also the psychological trauma they suffered which required ongoing counselling.
A spokesman for DB Cargo UK, which operates the depot, said: “We are assisting the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) with its investigation into this incident and therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”
The fact that they are not permitted to be there does not absolve the railway operator or landowner of any responsibilities to the children trespassing. Lawyer Tony Hannington