staff reporter(wp/es):
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined £5million for health and safety breaches over the Smiler rollercoaster crash.
Teenagers Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17, each lost a leg in the tragic incident in June last year.
Stafford Crown Court heard the victims watched with "disbelief and horror" before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened to a 90mph car crash.
Merlin was fined after the court heard an engineer "felt pressure" to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.
An expert witness report, compiled by consultant Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to "acceptably low levels of downtime" on their rollercoasters.
Judge Michael Chambers QC called the accident a "catastrophic failure" by the company involving basic health and safety measures.
He also said the “absolute shambles of what occurred” could have been easily avoided” by a suitable system to deal with ride faults and a proper risk assessment.
He added: "This was a needless and avoidable accident in which those injured were fortunate not to have been killed or bled to death."
According to Judge Chambers, the victims “endured great pain and distress” while waiting for medical help, with the first 999 call not made until 17 minutes after the crash.
It took up to five hours for them to be freed from the wreckage, with those at the front of the rollercoaster having their legs crushed in the tangled steel.
All 16 people aboard the carriage suffered injuries to various degrees.
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined £5million for health and safety breaches over the Smiler rollercoaster crash.
Teenagers Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17, each lost a leg in the tragic incident in June last year.
Stafford Crown Court heard the victims watched with "disbelief and horror" before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened to a 90mph car crash.
Merlin was fined after the court heard an engineer "felt pressure" to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.
An expert witness report, compiled by consultant Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to "acceptably low levels of downtime" on their rollercoasters.
Judge Michael Chambers QC called the accident a "catastrophic failure" by the company involving basic health and safety measures.
He also said the “absolute shambles of what occurred” could have been easily avoided” by a suitable system to deal with ride faults and a proper risk assessment.
He added: "This was a needless and avoidable accident in which those injured were fortunate not to have been killed or bled to death."
According to Judge Chambers, the victims “endured great pain and distress” while waiting for medical help, with the first 999 call not made until 17 minutes after the crash.
It took up to five hours for them to be freed from the wreckage, with those at the front of the rollercoaster having their legs crushed in the tangled steel.
All 16 people aboard the carriage suffered injuries to various degrees.
Judge Chambers added that the relatives and the injured had shown "great courage and fortitude" in the aftermath.
Beginning the sentencing, He said: "Human error was not the cause as was suggested by the defendant in an early press release.
"The defendant now accepts the prosecution case that the underlying fault was an absence of a structured and considered system not that of individuals' efforts, doing their best within a flawed system.
"Members of the public have been exposed to serious risk of one train colliding with another with a computer control system was reset, having been overridden to address a fault."
Beginning the sentencing, He said: "Human error was not the cause as was suggested by the defendant in an early press release.
"The defendant now accepts the prosecution case that the underlying fault was an absence of a structured and considered system not that of individuals' efforts, doing their best within a flawed system.
"Members of the public have been exposed to serious risk of one train colliding with another with a computer control system was reset, having been overridden to address a fault."
