Croydon tram crash: Victims' families call for new inquest

Members of London Fire Brigade look at the overturned tram at the site near the Sandilands stop

Families of five people killed in the Croydon tram crash claim an inquest into the incident was "inadequate and inaccurate".

Seven people were killed and more than 50 were injured when the tram tipped over near Sandilands tram stop in south London on 9 November 2016.

A coroner's inquest found the incident was an accident.

Lawyers for the families have urged Attorney General Michael Ellis QC to seek a new inquest into their deaths.

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Ben Posford, head of catastrophic injury at Osbornes Law, claimed there were "inadequate and incorrect rulings" during the original inquest.

The victims' families were furious that a conclusion of unlawful killing was not reached following the nine-week inquest.

At the original inquest, coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe refused to call evidence from witnesses, tram drivers or experts who had reported alleged safety failings.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found that driver Alfred Dorris may had slipped into a micro-sleep.

Miss Ormond-Walshe ruled that the case meant she was "not permitted to call further evidence" in relation to the tram crash because there was "no credible evidence that the investigation of the RAIB was incomplete, flawed or deficient".

Seven people died and 51 were injured when the tram overturned

In his letter, Mr Posford wrote: "We believe that it is necessary or desirable in the interests of justice that another investigation be held."

He said the coroner's ruling meant inquests into the deaths of people killed in future public transport accidents "will never again hear from any of those who are directly responsible".

The inquest heard that the tram went into a very tight corner, just before the tram stop, at 73km/h (45mph). The speed limit was 20km/h (12mph).

The crash resulted in the deaths of Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, from Croydon.

Speaking after the verdict, Mark Smith's mother Jean Smith, said the families were "bitterly disappointed" and that justice had not been done.