What an insult...
Alton Towers is fined just £5m – which they’ll recoup in ten days – for the horror crash that maimed two teenage girls
THe owners of alton Towers have been fined £5million – the equivalent of only ten days’ revenue – for last year’s ‘catastrophic’ rollercoaster crash which resulted in two teenagers each losing a leg. The theme park was branded a ‘shambles’ by Judge michael chambers Qc yesterday as he imposed the fine on parent company merlin attractions operations Ltd.
He said the company’s lack of basic health and safety systems had led to an accident ‘in which those injured were fortunate not to have been killed’.
The fine is the largest of its kind imposed on a leisure industry company in a case brought by the Health and Safety executive (HSe).
but under new sentencing guidelines introduced in February, a ‘very large organisation’ can be fined £10million, and there was anger at the level of yesterday’s fine which could be recouped in as little as ten days by alton Towers, which has average revenues of £464,000 a day.
The fine is less than 2 per cent of merlin’s £385million turnover in the year of the tragedy. despite the blunders, no one at merlin has been sacked, including £733,000-a-year boss nick Varney who is in line for a £1.4million share bonus.
paul paxton, representing eight of the 16 victims on the Smiler rollercoaster, said: ‘money alone will never replace limbs, nor heal the psychological scars.’
Speaking outside Stafford crown court, he said the victims had been ‘shocked and disappointed’ by the errors made by the operator.
Vicky balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17, each lost a leg in the collision in June last year which ‘changed the lives of some of those injured in the most dramatic way’, according to the judge.
He said all 16 people on the stricken carriage had been ‘injured to various degrees’, adding that the company’s safety failure had been ‘putting at risk the safety of thousands of young people and children’.
of those affected, he said the most moving accounts had been from the families of those hurt – some of whom had to give up careers and move home to care for their loved ones. The court had heard
‘Money will never replace limbs’
that the passengers watched with ‘disbelief and horror’ before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened to a 90mph car crash.
engineers over-rode the computer system which had correctly stopped the ride because they believed it was an error, allowing the passenger carriage to crash into the empty car.
It was found that while the ride and control systems were sound, merlin had failed to put in place proper systems and a suitable risk assessment for safe running.
an HSe investigation found an engineer ‘felt pressure’ to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.
The damning report also revealed employees were offered bonuses to get as many people on the ride as possible.
merlin ‘totally rejected’ any suggestion that it put money before public safety, saying the judge made no reference to that part of the HSe’s report in sentencing.
Lawyers for merlin said the company had seen a £14million drop in revenue as a result of the crash, and had ‘got the message’, making 30 changes to safety measures, equipment and training.
mr Varney yesterday ignored repeated questions as to whether he would step down. He said outside court that he and his bosses were ‘not emotionless corporate entities’.
The Smiler controversially reopened in march and has suffered fresh mechanical failures. This month it broke down twice in one day, leaving riders stranded in the air for 40 minutes. all 16 victims of last year’s crash are expected to seek compensation in a separate civil lawsuit. chandaben chauhan, 49, of Wednesbury, West midlands, and her two grown-up daughters suffered internal injuries and rib fractures in the crash. She said the accident had changed her from a ‘confident’ person to one whose family had been ‘totally broken’.
merlin entertainments owns 115 attractions including Legoland, SeaLife, the London eye and madame Tussauds. as well as the fine, the company was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £69,955.
merlin said: ‘The company has accepted full responsibility. both the HSe and the judge acknowledged that extensive steps have been taken to improve our systems and processes to ensure that this can never happen again.’