Inquest into Croydon tram crash pushed back to spring 2021
By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter
Families of the victims of the Croydon tram crash are “upset” at the announcement that an inquest into the deaths of their loved ones will now not take place until the spring of next year.
Monday will mark the fourth anniversary of the derailment at Sandilands Junction.
Following a pre-inquest hearing in September, it was due to start on October 19, this was pushed back once when London entered Tier 2.
The jury inquest into the deaths of Dane Chinnery, Donald Collett, Robert Huxley, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Philip Seary and Mark Smith was originally opened on November 21, 2016 but was adjourned until a decision on whether or not to charge the driver was made.
In October 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and British Transport Police announced that driver Alfred Dorris would not be charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
And in September it was revealed that he would not appear at the inquest.
Ben Posford, partner and head of catastrophic injury at London law firm Osbornes Law, is lead solicitor for five of the seven families.
He said: “Understandably the families are frustrated and upset by this latest postponement, and coming so near to the fourth anniversary of the tragedy on November 9 makes it even harder to bear.
“They sincerely hope the inquest can start without interruption in the spring.”
Pictured top: The aftermath of the derailment at Sandilands Junction in November 2016 (Picture: PA)
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