Merlin Entertainments fined £5m for Alton Towers crash

The owner of Alton towers, Merlin Entertainments is being sentenced for the catastrophic roller-coaster crash in June that injured 16 people, two of which needed leg amputations.

The “Smiler” ride collided with an empty car that had stalled further along the loop crushing the legs of those on the front row.

The judge said the company was guilty of a “catastrophic failure to assess risk” and should have had a structures system to ensure the safety of the £18m ride.

The company was find after a two-day sentencing which heard the gruesome details of the collision which was described as being similar to a 90mph car crash. The victims waited nearly an hour in mid air for the paramedics to arrive.

The judge, Michael Chambers QC, said: “This was a needless and avoidable accident in which those injured were fortunate not to have been killed or to have bled to death.

“It was, in my judgment, aggravated by the lack of proper emergency access to the accident site, which meant that those injured remained trapped in great pain and distress hanging at an angle of 45 degrees some 20ft above the ground for four to five hours before being released by the emergency services and taken to hospital.”

The company had initially claimed that human error were to blame for the incident but the chambers had dismissed this saying that the company’s engineers “were doing their best in a flawed system”.

Prosecuting for the health and Safety Executive (HSE) Bernard Thorogood, said a series of human errors led to the crash on the ride, but that the “fault here is with the employers”, not the staff.

According to Chambers the firm “was woefully inadequate” as it fell far short of the safety standards expected of the UK’s biggest theme park. If the case had gone to trial the fine would be £7.5m however he had to reduce it due to the early plea.

Both Vicky Balch and Leah Washington, who each lost a led were at Stafford crown court on Tuesday along with Joe Pugh, Daniel Thorpe and Chandaben Chauhan who were all seriously injured in the crash.

The eight victims lawyer Paul Paxton said the fine was a record for the entertainment industry.

“The catastrophic failure to assess risk, the inadequate training, inadequate supervision, inadequate management, failure to communicate, failure to put in place safe systems of work.

“But this has not been about retribution. This has been about finding out why this accident happened and making sure that lessons have been learned, not just by Merlin but by others throughout the industry, and I think my clients can take comfort from that” said Paxton.

The head of operations for the Midlands at the health and Safety Executive Neil Craig said: “This avoidable incident happened because Merlin failed to put in place systems that would have allowed their engineers to work safely on the ride while it was running. This made it all too easy for a whole series of unchecked mistakes, not just the single push of a button, to result in tragedy.”

Since the accident, the company have made improvements to the ride and to their safety protocols. The lessons it has learned have been shared throughout the industry.

Chief executive Nick Varney did not say whether he would resign or not during his short statement outside court.

“From the beginning, the company accepted responsibility for the terrible accident at Alton Towers and made an immediate, sincere and heartfelt apology to all those involved. I repeat that apology again now and did in court yesterday,” he said.