Safety issues raised before Metro death, court hears

SERIOUS concerns about the safety of Nexus staff were raised repeatedly years before an employee was electrocuted while working on the Metro line, a court has heard.

John Bell died in July 2014 while carrying out maintenance work on overhead cables near the Tyne and Wear Metro Operator’s depot in Gosforth, Newcastle.

The 43-year-old, from Killingworth, North Tyneside, was electrocuted after grabbing a wire he believed to be isolated from the power supply, but was in fact live.

An inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death in 2018.

But Nexus has since pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching general duty to an employee.

The company is now facing a fine that could run into six figures.

As a sentencing hearing got underway yesterday, Newcastle Crown Court heard how serious concerns about allegedly poor safety procedures were raised on numerous occasions before the tragedy.

Judge Robert Spragg was told how a technical manager was so worried about the work of production supervisor Ian Willis, who was responsible for safety, that he began keeping a log of his concerns as early as 2009.

And in one email to engineering manager John Henderson, the technical manager described what was going on as: “Dangerous, very, very dangerous.”

Gordon Menzies, prosecuting, explained how Mr Willis’ role put him in charge of supervising and training staff, and ensuring work was carried out safely on the lines.

But he gave examples of a number of incidents in which correct procedures were allegedly not followed.

The hearing continues today.