A Croydon tram driver has been found not guilty of failing to take "reasonable care" during a disaster that saw seven tragically die.
Alfred Dorris, 49, has been found not guilty at the Old Bailey of failing to take "reasonable care" of the health and safety of himself and his passengers.
During the trial, Mr Dorris was accused of falling asleep but denied it in court.
It was also alleged he was going three times the speed limit when his tram left the tracks at a sharp bend near Sandilands, south London on November 9,2016.
Seven people died in the accident and a further 19 were hurt.
The prosecution alleged Mr Dorris may have had a “micro-sleep” or become disorientated before the crash.
Mr Dorris, from Beckenham, south-east London, denied a single charge of failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Earlier today, Mr Justice Fraser sent the jury out at the Old Bailey to start deliberating on its verdict.
The people who died were: Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all from New Addington, and Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both from Croydon.
Mr Dorris denied he had a "micro-sleep" and said he became disorientated in the tunnel approaching the curve, believing he was heading the other way.
He blamed his confusion on a combination of external factors including poor lighting and signage in the Sandilands tunnel complex, darkness and bad weather.
By the time he realised the fatal mistake the tram was already tipping over and he was thrown from his seat, causing him to hit his head and pass out, he said.
Speaking publicly about the crash for the first time, the driver apologised to the victims’ families and survivors during his tearful evidence at the Old Bailey.
He told them: “I’m a human being and sometimes as a human being things happen to you that you are not in control of.
“I’m sorry that I became disorientated. I’m sorry I was not able to do anything to stop myself from becoming disorientated.
“And I’m deeply sorry I was not able to do anything to reorientate myself and stop the tram from turning over. I’m deeply sorry.”
The court heard that it had been a wet, wintry morning when Tram 2551 embarked on its route from New Addington to Wimbledon via East Croydon.
At a sharp left turn on the approach to Sandilands, drivers are instructed to reduce speed to 12mph (20kph) to safely negotiate the curve, with a sign on the bend confirming it.
Mr Dorris was travelling in excess of 43mph (70kph), causing the inner wheels to come off the track and the tram to tip over.
Survivors described being “flung” about as if in a washing machine or a pinball machine, then a moment of silence before people began to scream and shout.
Mr Dorris was found in his cabin with his eyes shut and one passenger called for him to “wake up”.
When he came to, he said: “I’m sorry, guys. Is everyone all right? I saw something in front of the tram.”
Mr Dorris broke down in court as he recalled the moments before the tragedy, saying: “It was like I went into shock. I could not do anything. I wanted to reach for the brake but at that stage the tram was already going over and I was thrown out of the chair and I could not do anything.
“I can remember being thrown from the chair to the side of the cabin and my shoulder took the impact and I hit the side of my head on the side of the cabin.
“I can remember lying on the floor and then it goes black; I passed out, because I cannot remember the tram sliding or becoming stationary.
“The next thing, I remember hearing voices and people kicking trying to open the cabin door.”
Prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC said it was an “accident waiting to happen”.
He told jurors: “Whether by virtue of a micro-sleep, or by virtue of becoming disorientated in some other way, or a combination of the two, Mr Dorris failed to attend to the most basic of requirements of a driver of a passenger vehicle, namely remaining alert and attentive at the controls.”
Mr Dorris was described as having an “impeccable” past record and was seen as one of the better drivers.
The court heard of an alleged “near-miss” 10 days before the derailment in an identical location at a similar time involving another driver.
Defence barrister Miles Bennett said a passenger had “genuinely feared for their safety”.
But Sarah Claypole, who was a senior manager at the time, told jurors she was unaware of the alleged incident or of drivers failing to report errors.
It was also suggested that other “environmental and external factors outside his control” relating to the infrastructure around the Sandilands area combined to cause the defendant to become disorientated.
The Old Bailey jurors were not told that an inquest in 2021 concluded that the victims died as a result of an accident and were not unlawfully killed.
At the time, several members of the victims’ families walked out of the room at Croydon Town Hall in tears and there were demands for a new inquest with more witnesses called to give evidence about alleged safety failings.
Mr Dorris had been excused from attending the inquest because he was suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
The granddaughter of one of the passengers killed in the Croydon tram disaster described the not guilty verdict in the trial of the driver involved as “deflating”.
Danielle Wynne, whose grandfather Philip Logan, 52, was among seven people killed said “there has to be some kind of accountability”.
Ms Wynne, 32, said: “A not guilty verdict to me is like someone stabbing me in the chest.
“It feels so deflating.
“If I got into my car and I did what he did at the speed that he did, then I would go to prison.”
She added: “My grandad and this incident will never be forgotten. It’s a date that’s etched into my mind.
“Our family feels truly let down by the justice system.”
She continued: “I don’t believe that morning (Mr Dorris) set out to kill anyone. But he did kill people. There has to be some kind of accountability.
“As far as I’m concerned, accident or not, he’s taken no accountability for his actions that morning.
“There was only one person who was in control of that tram on that morning, and it was that driver.”
