Footage ... jury shown CCTV images at station
Georgia Varley, 16, fell between the platform and the train after coming into
Liverpool for a night out to celebrate a friend’s 18th birthday party in
October last year.
She was said to have died because train guard Christopher McGee, 45, gave driver Belinda Nicholson the signal that it was safe for the train to pull out of James Street station in the city centre.
McGee from Wallasey, Wirral, a train guard for 20 years, appeared at Liverpool Crown court charged with the manslaughter of Georgia, from Moreton on the Wirral.
He denied the charge and an alternative charge under the Health and Safety at work act of failing to take reasonable care to ensure Georgia’s safety on the platform.
McGee told police and his bosses at Merseyrail that Georgia had moved away from the train before he gave the order to set off but then came back and started banging on the windows before she fell between the platform and the train onto the tracks.
But prosecutor Nicolas Johnson QC played the jury a 30 second CCTV video of Georgia which the prosecution claim shows that she was leaning against the train when it moved out.
Mr Johnson told the court that Georgia was “ very drunk “ and had traces of the recreational drug MCAT in her system when she went into the city to continue the birthday celebrations.
She had been to a house party for friend Maddy Bowers’s 18th birthday party
where she had drunk vodka and was said to be “the drunkest person at the
party”.
Mr Johnson said: “Georgia came into Liverpool for a night out but tragically she never went home. She never got out of the station because she was run over by the very train in which she had arrived.
“Only one person had the capability to prevent the situation which led to her death. Christopher McGee was the guard on the train and we say he did two things.
“He gave the signal to the driver when he could not have failed to realise that Georgia was in contact with the train and she was in an intoxicated state.
“He could see that she had her hands against the train and knowing or at least suspecting that she was worse for drink, he gave the signal for the train to start.
“It was a deliberate act. He must have known that it would subject Georgia to a degree of force which was highly likely to throw her off balance with the consequent risk of injury. We say that starting the train was in itself a criminal act.
“The second thing he did was he failed to countermand the signal when it was clear that Georgia could be dragged under the train with the obvious risk of killing her. “
“We do not say he intended to kill Georgia but the risk must have been obvious to a highly trained train guard as it would be to an average person.”
Mr Johnson said that the driver was “blind“ and could not see what was
happening on the platform. A guard signalled for the train to start by
giving two rings on an internal bell system to which the driver responded by
giving a two ring signal to confirm it was clear to start.
The jury was shown CCTV of Georgia and her friends boarding the train at Manor Road station near West Kirkby in the Wirral and of them on the train.
Georgia, who was wearing a black dress and high heeled shoes, was seen to fall over in the ticket office and twice on the train.
She also got out by mistake at Meols station and had to be pulled back on the train by friends while passengers jammed open the doors.
Mr Johnson said that McGee had walked down the platform to investigate this incident and must have realised that Georgia was “ very drunk and very vulnerable.”
Mr Johnson said that at James Street station, McGee had given the “two bell“ signal for the train to move despite Georgia leaning against the train.
He saw Georgia fall beneath the train and gave the emergency stop signal of one ring which stopped the train after it had travelled 33 metres.
McGee told police that he was “completely devastated and traumatised“ by the accident which was the first in his 20 years as a train guard.
The case continues.
She was said to have died because train guard Christopher McGee, 45, gave driver Belinda Nicholson the signal that it was safe for the train to pull out of James Street station in the city centre.
McGee from Wallasey, Wirral, a train guard for 20 years, appeared at Liverpool Crown court charged with the manslaughter of Georgia, from Moreton on the Wirral.
He denied the charge and an alternative charge under the Health and Safety at work act of failing to take reasonable care to ensure Georgia’s safety on the platform.
McGee told police and his bosses at Merseyrail that Georgia had moved away from the train before he gave the order to set off but then came back and started banging on the windows before she fell between the platform and the train onto the tracks.
But prosecutor Nicolas Johnson QC played the jury a 30 second CCTV video of Georgia which the prosecution claim shows that she was leaning against the train when it moved out.
Mr Johnson told the court that Georgia was “ very drunk “ and had traces of the recreational drug MCAT in her system when she went into the city to continue the birthday celebrations.
Tragic ... Georgia Varley
Cavendish Press
Mr Johnson said: “Georgia came into Liverpool for a night out but tragically she never went home. She never got out of the station because she was run over by the very train in which she had arrived.
“Only one person had the capability to prevent the situation which led to her death. Christopher McGee was the guard on the train and we say he did two things.
“He gave the signal to the driver when he could not have failed to realise that Georgia was in contact with the train and she was in an intoxicated state.
“He could see that she had her hands against the train and knowing or at least suspecting that she was worse for drink, he gave the signal for the train to start.
“It was a deliberate act. He must have known that it would subject Georgia to a degree of force which was highly likely to throw her off balance with the consequent risk of injury. We say that starting the train was in itself a criminal act.
“The second thing he did was he failed to countermand the signal when it was clear that Georgia could be dragged under the train with the obvious risk of killing her. “
“We do not say he intended to kill Georgia but the risk must have been obvious to a highly trained train guard as it would be to an average person.”
Guard ... McGee arriving at court
Mercury Press
The jury was shown CCTV of Georgia and her friends boarding the train at Manor Road station near West Kirkby in the Wirral and of them on the train.
Georgia, who was wearing a black dress and high heeled shoes, was seen to fall over in the ticket office and twice on the train.
She also got out by mistake at Meols station and had to be pulled back on the train by friends while passengers jammed open the doors.
Mr Johnson said that McGee had walked down the platform to investigate this incident and must have realised that Georgia was “ very drunk and very vulnerable.”
Mr Johnson said that at James Street station, McGee had given the “two bell“ signal for the train to move despite Georgia leaning against the train.
He saw Georgia fall beneath the train and gave the emergency stop signal of one ring which stopped the train after it had travelled 33 metres.
McGee told police that he was “completely devastated and traumatised“ by the accident which was the first in his 20 years as a train guard.
The case continues.
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