Great Western Coffee Shop

Spitting yob and his grinning accomplice jailed for trying to derail a passenger train

Two vandals who built a four-foot high barricade on a railway line that almost derailed a train have been jailed for a total of eight years and nine months. Reckless Richard Hamilton, 20, and Ashley Leedham, 18, piled wooden pallets, concrete posts and bags of cement across the tracks on March 18. They laughed as a Cross Country train - carrying 49 passengers at just under 100mph - ploughed into the barricade. 

Terrified passengers screamed as the three carriages were briefly flung into the air before the train skidded to a halt several hundred yards away.

The damage to the train will cost ^33,000 to repair.

Judge Christopher Hodson said the potential consequences were 'horrific' as he jailed Hamilton for four and a half years and Leedham for four years at Warwick Crown Court. The court heard how the two had spent the day drinking together when they wandered to the line at Dotshill, Tamworth at around 11pm.

Leedham banged on a lorry driver's cab then smashed the windscreen with a rock. The pair staggered to the line and collected building materials that had been stacked nearby by workers. They piled wooden pallets across the 4' 8" tracks. They then added bags of cement, broken concrete posts and more pallets to the barricade. The two yobs watched from nearby bushes and laughed as a Cross Country train travelling from Birmingham New Street to Nottingham hurtled through the darkness towards the death-trap.

When driver Andrew Sansom spotted the barricade it was only 200 yards away and he thought with such scant braking distance that he was 'going to die'. He slammed on the emergency brake and the train screeched to stop at nearby bridge narrowly avoiding a catastrophic derailment.

The total amount of damage to the train was costed at ^35, 587.56p. Total losses to the train company came to ^54, 116.97p.

In a witness statement, Mr Sansom said: 'Upon hitting the concrete I heard the most horrific loud bang and saw all the lights on my dashboard appear. I thought the train had come off the rails and I remembered shouting to myself "oh no". I thought the train was going to hit the bridge and I was going to die. Images of my children, my family and those close to me flashed before me and I thought I would never see them again. I was quite definitely in shock and deeply disturbed. I didn't suffered any physical injuries but I feel lucky to be alive. I changed my will because that's how close I came to feeling like I was going to die. I've had flashbacks of crashing trains.'

Police became suspicious when they spotted the two youths lurking near the scene three days after the collision. The lads ran away when police tried to speak with them. But CCTV footage matched their faces to those at the collision and they were later arrested on March 30.

They both admitted having built the barricade and pleaded guilty to placing items on the railway with intent to obstruct the line. Leedham also admitted criminal damage for smashing the lorry window earlier that evening for which he was sentenced to three months to run concurrently in a young offenders' institution.

Judge Hodson said: 'This offence is serious not only because of the damage you caused but serious because of the extreme danger that your actions might have caused. The potential consequences of what you did were horrific. A derailment at about 90 mph could have had very serious consequences both only for the train operator but for the passengers on board. Fortunately none of the 49 passengers were injured. Unfortunately Andrew Sansom the driver of the train suffered a great deal of anguish and distress. He was unable to work for a month, having counselling and his life has been affected for some time because of what the two of you did. Your actions were deliberate and considered. You placed concrete posts, some 30 of them, wooden pallets and bags of cement, leaving an obstruction at least four feet high and four feet eight wide. This is not a common as offence maybe because when it's punished and dealt with it includes an element of deterrent and so it must be here.'

Does anyone else feel that a system should be set up where convicted criminals are put on a repayment plan (which is taken directly from their wages/benefits) to pay back the damages they've caused. 

Does anyone else feel that a system should be set up where convicted criminals are put on a repayment plan (which is taken directly from their wages/benefits) to pay back the damages they've caused.  Even if they end up paying back small amounts for the rest of their lives, it would serve as a constant reminder of what they've done.  Obviously the whole lot would probably never be paid back, but it might make them think twice about doing this again.