Man, 55, tried to derail train (From Witney Gazette)

Man, 55, tried to derail train

3:23pm Monday 26th February 2007 in Witney By The Page Turner

A MAN who tried to derail a packed passenger train in West Oxfordshire walked free from court, despite a judge being told he had 'a dreadful record'.

David Harris, 55, piled up concrete slabs on the tracks, and watched as a London-bound First Great Western train slammed into them at 60mph at Finstock station.

Despite his actions, the high-speed train had stayed on the rails, and no one on board was injured, Oxford Crown Court was told.

Harris, of Marlborough Road, south Oxford, admitted charges of causing criminal damage, and obstructing a train.

The judge, who three weeks ago told a paedophile to buy his child victim a bicycle, gave him a 12-month suspended prison sentence, and ordered him to undergo a 12-month supervision order. Judge Hall heard on Thursday that Harris had been very drunk when he had gone to Finstock station and had torn up concrete slabs covering power cables.

Harris also deliberately damaged signalling equipment, before carrying the slabs down the line, and piling up a two-foot tall stack on the tracks to await the next train.

As the Adelante 180 sped towards him at 60mph, Harris dived for cover, and the train shot past him 'within a whisker of his life'.

Judge Hall heard how the train, which was travelling from Great Malvern to London Paddington via Oxfordshire, had 'miraculously' escaped derailment, and had stopped 600 yards down the line.

Local resident Christopher Huband spotted Harris shortly after midday on July 9, last year.

He alerted police, who followed Harris down the line, before arresting him.

Harris told officers in interview that he had been at a rock concert, had a couple of sherbets (drinks), and got thrown out.

Clare Tucker, prosecuting, said the crash had damaged the train's global satellite system, costing Network Rail £20,000 to repair.

She added that the defendant had a 'dreadful record' of previous convictions, with a gap between 1994 and his last conviction, in 2006, for which he was sent to prison.

Harris admitted one count of causing criminal damage and a further charge of obstructing an engine or a carriage using a railway, contrary to Section 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861.

Alastair Granger, defending, said his client, who has three previous convictions of criminal damage in 1994, suffered from mental health problems, and had believed he had been a silver medal winner at the Montreal Olympics in 1976 at the time of the incident.

Judge Julian Hall sentenced Harris to a 12-month suspended jail term for each offence.

He also ordered him to undergo a 12-month supervision order while remaining at a bail hostel in Old Windsor as he received his treatment.

Judge Hall told Harris: "What you did could have been absolutely disastrous.

"When trains come off the track going at speed, a lot of people get hurt, and enormous amount of damage is done."