31 killed in rail crash at Ladbroke Grove, and Shipman goes on trial
This week in 1999, 31 people died and dozens were injured when two trains collided at Ladbroke Grove Junction, two miles west of Paddington station, London. The crash happened when one of the trains passed a red signal.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said: “I am absolutely appalled by what is a truly dreadful tragedy.”
Transport Secretary John
Prescott promised a public inquiry into the crash and praised the “swift efforts of all the emergency services”.
Conservative Transport spokesman John Redwood said: “We need a proper inquiry and we need some answers for the future.”
Public inquiries were headed by Scottish judge Lord Cullen. He made dozens of safety recommendations and concluded Railtrack, the company then in charge of rail infrastructure and its investment, had failed to respond to earlier warnings about signalling problems.
He also criticised the Health and Safety Executive’s Rail Inspectorate and recommended an independent Rail Industry Safety Body.
Also this week in 1999, Harold Shipman went on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of murdering 15 female patients who died in the Greater Manchester area between 1995 and 1998.
On January 31, 2000, a jury found Shipman guilty of the murder of 15 patients under his care.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released – but committed suicide on January 13, 2004, one day prior to his 58th birthday, by hanging himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison.
In sport, the Rugby World Cup kicked off in Wales.
Although the majority of matches were played outside Wales (shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland) the opening ceremony, the first match, and the final were held in Cardiff.
Australia went on to win the tournament, beating France 35-12 in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.