UK - alcoholic drives car on railway line

[John Ashworth]

Woman admits driving along Metro rail tracks

Apr 17 2009 by Adam Jupp, Evening Chronicle

A WOMAN has admitted driving her car hundreds of yards down a Metro track.

Karen Angus, 40, risked passengers’ lives by travelling on the line before breaking down as a train approached.

She was arrested after her silver Mercedes was found on the tracks between the Wansbeck Road and Fawdon stations.

Now, Angus, of Kielder Way, Gosforth, Newcastle, has admitted endangering the safety of persons conveyed by railway and failing to give a breath test.

Angus entered guilty pleas at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court and the case was sent to the crown court for sentence.

She was given an interim driving ban ahead of the hearing next month.

At the time of the incident, the Metro driver spotted the vehicle on the tracks and had to brake heavily, managing to come to a rest 50 yards from it.

It took place at 11pm on February 24, and all trains were stopped for several hours as a result.

Metro operator Nexus had to put on a taxi service for passengers travelling between Kingston Park and Regent Centre, while recovery work took place.

The company has been hit with a huge bill and has indicated it may pursue compensation through Angus’s insurance company once legal proceedings have finished.

A spokesman said: “I can confirm we are contemplating legal action against this woman.

“We are calculating our costs which have ran into the thousands, possibly up to £10,000.

“Luckily there was no damage to the line, but it cost us as we had to stop the Metros while the car was on the track.

“We had to hire a fleet of six taxis for two hours to ferry passengers and we had to call out people to check the 600 metres of track driven down.”



Railway track driver spared jail

BBC
Page last updated at 16:28 GMT, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:28 UK

A drunk woman who drove almost half a mile along railway tracks before her car broke down has been spared jail.

Alcoholic Karen Angus had downed wine and taken anti-depressants before she somehow turned on to the tracks at a Metro crossing in Fawdon, Newcastle.

The mother-of-three said she could not remember driving and, when arrested, told police she was having a "bad day".

Angus, 40, who admitted endangering rail travellers, was given a 10-month prison term, suspended for two years.

On 24 February, she was spotted by the driver of a Metro train carrying 20 passengers on the opposite side of the tracks, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

'I'm an alcoholic'

Prosecutor Debbie Breen said: "At about 11pm the Metro driver Alistair Joel saw headlights appear on the other side of the track.

"He slowed down and saw there was a motor vehicle on the track and applied the emergency brakes."

The driver walked down the track to the car, where Angus wound down the window and told him: "I'm an alcoholic, My car won't start."

At an earlier hearing, Angus, of Kielder Way, Gosforth, admitted endangering the safety of persons conveyed on a railway and failing to give a specimen of breath.

Jamie Adams, defending, said his client had not been trying to hurt anybody.

Judge David Wood also gave Angus a 12-month supervision order and banned her from driving for three years.

Judge Wood said: "Luckily for you the Metro train was coming from the opposite direction on the other side of the track otherwise you wouldn't be here at all."

Speaking after the hearing, a spokesman for Metro operator Nexus said: "The driver of the car showed complete disregard for the fact she had turned on to a railway line and put other people's lives in danger."