Council did not manage Cambridgeshire busway risk, judge told
Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts all died after collisions on the busway, serving Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, between 2015 and 2021.Barrister Pascal Bates, who is leading the HSE legal team, outlined evidence on Thursday as relatives of people who died watched from a public gallery.He said guided busways were rare."This case is about the management of risk," Mr Bates told Judge Mark Bishop."The incidents in this case are related to incidents where that management did not work."He said one charge related to crossing the busway and one charge to people being alongside.Mr Bates said the case concerned the "mismanagement of safety" and added: "Central to the case was unpreparedness by the council."
The hearing is due to end on Friday.Judge Bishop has indicated that he will announce decisions on sentencing at a later date.A lawyer had said at an earlier hearing that a commercial organisation convicted of the same offences would expect a seven or eight-figure fine.
In September 2024, council chief executive Dr Stephen Moir apologised."We fully recognise and accept that during the historic operation of the guided busway, when these incidents occurred, that we fell far short of meeting these standards," he said in a statement released by the council."For that we are truly sorry."In October at an earlier court hearing, the council admitted two breaches of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act.The breaches were:Failing to ensure members of the public were not "exposed to risks" when using "designated crossing points"Failing to ensure members of the public were not "exposed to risks" when in the "vicinity of, or seeking to travel alongside" the busway
Barrister Ben Compton KC, who represented the council, had told the judge at an earlier hearing that the authority's "financial circumstances" would have to be considered before sentence was passed.
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