Five charged over Hatfield crash

FIVE men from Railtrack's successor company Network Rail and maintenance firm Balfour Beatty have been charged with manslaughter in connection with the Hatfield train crash, it was announced today.

Another man was set to be charged later today, British Transport Police said.

Network Rail and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services Ltd have also been summonsed for offences of manslaughter and for failure to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Four people died in the October 17, 2000, crash when a GNER express trained derailed half a mile south of Hatfield station in Hertfordshire.

The victims were Steve Arthur, 46, from Pease Pottage, West Sussex, Peter Monkhouse, 50, of Headingley, Leeds, Leslie Gray, 43, of Tuxford, Nottingham, and Robert James Alcorn, 37, of Auckland, New Zealand