Rail firM pleads not guilty after signalMan’s injury
Network Rail is expected to go on trial next year over alleged safety failures at a level crossing where a signalman was seriously injured.
Grandfather Doug Caddell suffered a brain injury after a car crashed into the road gate he was closing at a crossing in East Farleigh in 2015.
The company, which is responsible for the country’s railway infrastructure, entered not guilty pleas to two health and safety-related charges at Maidstone Crown Court two weeks ago. A pre-trial review is expected to be held in November with a trial date set for April 23 next year.
A previous magistrates’ court hearing was told “old fashioned” level crossing gates were manually operated by staff stepping into a busy road with no automatic signals or alarms.
Mr Caddell was knocked to the ground after a driver hit the gate he was trying to close. He was left with a serious head injury and a “hangman’s fracture”, an injury to the vertebra of the spine.
Driver Rodney Spicer, 70, of College Avenue, Maidstone, was charged with driving without due care and attention but died before his first court appearance.