Safety inspector who signed off plunge theme ride avoids jail
A SAFETY inspector who gave the all-clear to a rollercoaster days before it plunged to the ground and left nine people injured has avoided jail.
Craig Boswell, 56, passed the Tsunami ride at M&D’s theme park in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, 16 days before the accident, without a crucial report.
The self-employed fairground ride inspector wrongly issued a Declaration of Operational Compliance (DOC), which said the ride was safe to use.
This led to park bosses continuing to operate it, unaware Boswell had not noticed the absence of a non-destructive testing (NDT) report, without which the rollercoaster should not have been used.
There should have been two reports on the Tsunami provided by two different inspectors but only one was handed over when the DOC was granted.
The cars of the Tsunami ride later came away from the rails at a bend as the attraction reached speeds of 40mph.
Terrified passengers included William Murray and Katie McArdle, both 19, and seven children, who were all injured when they fell from the ride on June 26, 2016. They were left with long-term physical and emotional scars.
At Hamilton Sheriff Court, Boswell, of Uddingston, Lanarkshire, admitted he broke health and safety laws. Ruling out jail, Sheriff Thomas Millar sentenced him to 160 hours of unpaid work.
Depute fiscal Selena Brown said: ‘Boswell issued a DOC despite not having a report on the NDT from when the ride had been stripped down.
‘He failed to notice that the technician David Spiers, who carried out the December test, had failed to provide him with a report and this led to the DOC being administered to M&D’s.
‘On receipt of the DOC, they continued to operate the Tsunami when it was not in a state of proper repair.’
Gavin Anderson, defending, said: ‘Remorse is expressed and that is keenly felt by Mr Boswell. He is now 56 and, but for some road traffic matters, he has no history of criminal offending.’
Sheriff Millar told Boswell he would reduce the sentence from 240 hours of work due to his early admission of guilt.
The sheriff added: ‘This certificate should never have been issued and, following that, the potential risk in my view was high, given the nature of the ride and those using it.
‘No doubt what occurred is a matter of deep regret to you but the indictment you pleaded guilty to means you were not directly involved in what happened.
‘Your failure was issuing the certificate, which allowed the ride to be used.’
In March, M&D’s was fined £65,000 after admitting breaching health and safety laws on the rollercoaster ride between June 2015 and June 2016.
It received a £1.4million insurance payout for interrupted business after being forced to close for a period during the aftermath of the crash.