Croydon tram crash: Driver denies breaking health and safety laws

The tram crashed at peak time and was full of commuters

The driver of a tram which crashed in Croydon killing seven people has pleaded not guilty to breaking health and safety laws.

Sixty-one passengers were also injured when the tram derailed in south London on 9 November 2016.

Alfred Dorris, 48, from Beckenham in south-east London, is accused of failing as an employee to take reasonable care of passengers.

He was released on unconditional bail after appearing at Croydon Crown Court.

Mr Justice Fraser applied to transfer the case for trial at either the Old Bailey or Southwark Crown Court on a date yet to be set.

Tram driver Alfred Dorris pleaded not guilty when he appeared at Croydon Crown Court

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, who were both from Croydon.

Nineteen of the 61 people hurt in the derailment suffered serious injuries.

Transport for London (TfL) and the operator, Tram Operations Limited (TOL), indicated guilty pleas over health and safety failings at an earlier hearing.

A manslaughter or corporate manslaughter case was ruled out by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2019. This prosecution was brought by the Office for Rail and Road (ORR), a government body.

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