Croydon tram crash inquest jury retires to make a decision on the tragic incident

By Tara O’Connor, local democracy reporter

Nearly two months since the inquest into the deaths of seven people killed in the Croydon tram crash began, the jury has been sent out to deliberate on the evidence they have heard.

It has been more than four years since a tram derailed at Sandilands Junction on November 9, 2016.

The tragic incident resulted in the deaths of Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, from Croydon.

Sarah Ormond-Walsh, the senior coroner, on Tuesday summed up the evidence that the jury has heard over the past seven weeks at Croydon Town Hall.

This includes accounts from Transport for London, Tram Operations Limited (TOL) and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

The inquest did not hear directly from the driver, Alfred Dorris, but did hear accounts of his actions after the incident, and the transcripts from police interviews.

This morning (Wednesday, July 7), the coroner gave the jury legal directions before sending them out to consider their conclusions.

Based on the evidence heard over the inquest, the coroner said the jury will conclude whether the seven deaths were “unlawful killing” or an “accident”.

The jury will consider a series of questions in relation to the deaths and have to reach a unanimous conclusion.