Whitewash claim over Hart TV film

Gary Hart says he was also a victim of the Selby disaster

The man who caused the Selby rail crash claims he is as much a victim as those who died in the tragedy.

Gary Hart served half of a five year jail term for dangerous driving, after 10 men died in the February 2001 crash.

His Land Rover plunged off the M62 into the path of a high speed train on the East Coast Main line.

But victims' relatives and survivors say Hart is trying to "whitewash" what he did, by speaking in a BBC TV documentary being shown on Tuesday.

In the programme, ONE life: Asleep at the Wheel, the 40-year-old refuses to accept responsibility for the crash.

He says: "They (the victims) want that, but I'm accepting responsibility for the truth and the truth was not what was heard in court.

"They're always going to feel anger and I just want them to know that I've suffered just the same as them."

But Judith Cairncross, from North Tyneside, whose brother Raymond Robson died in crash, accused Hart of trying to whitewash his actions on 28 February, 2001.

Much of the GNER train was crushed in the impact

Mrs Cairncross, who was shown the programme before transmission, said: "I still blame him. He has devastated 10 families. He is after whitewashing what he has done. He was the cause of this crash.

"Listening to what he has said has made me very angry. What he says in the programme is not what he said in the trial."

Crash survivor Wendy Keenan, from Northumberland, added: "I was hoping he would say he was sorry. But he is just arrogant.

"He should have been given a longer sentence for what he did."

During the trial at Leeds Crown Court, Hart admitted only sleeping for about 45 minutes on the night before the crash.

He had spent most of the night chatting on the phone to a woman he had met on an Internet dating agency, just eight days before the accident.

When asked if he had fallen asleep, Hart replies: "Absolutely not. There's no way you could drive down that embankment asleep..I've been convicted so what have I got to lose? I have done the time, why do I need to lie?"

ONE life is on BBC1 at 2235 BST on Tuesday.

Bookmark with:

• Delicious
• Digg
• reddit
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

What are these?

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version