Driver in horrific tram crash that left seven dead denies falling asleep
The driver in the Croydon tram crash has denied in court that he fell asleep.
It is alleged Alfred Dorris, 49, was driving at three times the speed limit when his tram left the tracks on a sharp bend near Sandilands, South London.
Seven people died in the 2016 accident and 19 were hurt.
Dorris denies failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
At the Old Bailey yesterday, prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC asked him whether he had failed to take reasonable care of his passengers.
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Dorris said: “I turned up for work that morning as a professional driver, as I always do. It just went horribly wrong for me. It’s not for me to say if I did or didn’t.” He admitted becoming confused but denied a lack of concentration and insisted: “I didn’t fall asleep.”
He said of his disorientation that day, which left him believing he was going the opposite direction: “I don’t know what happened to me. I don’t know the duration, whether it was a second, several seconds or less. It felt like it just came and it went.”
Dane Chinnery, Donald Collett, Robert Huxley, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Philip Seary and Mark Smith all lost their lives in the derailment.
Earlier this week the driver apologised to the victims’ families in court for becoming disorientated. The trial continues.
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