Rail chiefs 'face Paddington charges'

THE bosses of Railtrack could face manslaughter charges over the Paddington rail crash. Police believe they have enough evidence to bring charges against senior figures in the now-defunct firm in the wake of the 1999 crash, which claimed 31 lives.

Officers are preparing to hand over evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service in a move which could see directors or senior officers in the firm facing huge fines if found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. But they are very unlikely to face jail terms.

Crash survivor Anthony Knox, 45, who is still able to work only part-time because of his injuries, said: 'If they could get Gerald Corbett - Railtrack chief executive at the time - in the dock, I would be dancing.'

A legal source said prosecutors would have to prove that individual executives had personally been 'grossly negligent'. But they could also bring separate charges of corporate manslaughter against named executives if it could be established that they were in overall control of safety at the time.