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The girl or the train guard?
He’s been jailed for five years for her manslaughter.
Should she have been so drunk and on drugs?
Did he fail in his duty of care?
Oh a big one….
Who’s responsible?
Her parents for letting their 16 year old daughter out that late and to get into such a state…but how many parents know where their kids are these days?
Her for getting so intoxicated and out of control…but that’s what teenagers do isn’t it?
Her friends for not looking out for her…but they were probably just as intoxicated as she was.But…the one person who was there, who was not intoxicated and who was in a position to stop such a horrific accident was the guard who did, in my opinion, fail in his duty of care. It wouldn’t matter how old the person was or what time of day or why they were leaning against the train…it could have been illness, it could have been a need to get on that train for whatever reason, it didn’t have to be drink and drugs related…he holds a position of responsibility for the safety of his train, its passengers and people at the station and he was negligent in his duties. He will have to live with that for the rest of his life.
I can see what you’re saying but he doesn’t deserve five years in jail.
The parents should also be prosecuted.
Maybe if the parents of underage drinkers were held accountable in the same way the parents of truants are prosecuted we might see a better standard of parenting.
Also, who have or sold her the drink and drugs? Aren’t they culpable as well?
Some would say that the parents have been punished, and will continue to be punished, by the loss of their daughter and the guilt that will be with them for the rest of their lives.
Is it bad parenting though? I went out drinking at the age of 16, it was a part of growing up, my parents didn’t know where I was…they thought they did though. And yes, there were times when I got so drunk that I could barely stand up…most teenagers do it at some point. Were my parents bad parents? No. Was I a teenager growing up and finding my feet in the adult world? Yes.
And yes, the people who sold her the drink should have checked id, and maybe they did and maybe she had a fake id…or maybe they didn’t, or maybe older friends got the drinks for her. As for drugs, well anyone who sells drugs is culpable in my view.
But had the guard been doing his job properly, had he been safeguarding the safety of the train, its passengers and people on the platform, she wouldn’t have got pulled under the train and there’s a strong chance that she would have woken up the following day with the hangover from hell and still be alive today.
Is five years enough for the act of gross negligence resulting in the loss of a young life? (her parents would probably say no) Or do we temper the sentence because her death was due to negligence rather than a violent act? If he had been driving a car recklessly and killed her, would we be saying that 5 years wasn’t deserved?
He won’t serve 5 years anyway.
Whoever sold or gave her drink will probably not be held accountable:
I had an incident at work once. A young lad of 15, who used our shop often, was caught walking home with 4 cans of Strongbow. Not sure how the police got involved but I had a visit from them telling me I sold alcohol to this lad as he said this is where he got it from.
Being a Sunday and before midday I remembered who I had sold that particular beer to. Only one person had bought Strongbow that morning.
So I had to show the police cctv footage of the whole mornings sales and of the sale to the adult, I gave them his name and address, I knew where he lived because he was a dvd rental customer. They did visit him he admitted he gave the alcohol to this lad, which got us of the hook. But this man was never prosecuted, even though he admitted it.I have a good relationship with our local Trading Standards Officers and I have asked them what is the prosection percentage of over 18s buying alcohol for under 18s. Basically it’s zilch. I asked about cigarettes too only to be told it is not illegal to buy cigarettes for children under 16!
Basically take it as no one will be prosectued except a shopkeeper. :roll:
both
It’s a matter of percentages, and one is now paying a far smaller price than the other.
I agree with jen jen on this one…I know there are all sorts of other people who hold some responsibility but the guard is paid and trained to ensure safety on trains ,,, he didn’t and a young girl died…. very sad for everyone involved.
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