Guard Jailed for death of girl on train platform

[ryanman]

There is more to this than that story shows.

Of course the girl has a responsibility and at first glance it's difficult to see how the guard can be blamed. The reason why (you may still disagree with the conviction) is that the guard was fully aware that the young girl was drunk and that she was leaning on the train. Knowing this he signalled for the train to move away. The movement of the train caused her to fall between the gap.
Yes she was drunk, but that doesn't remove his duty of care as the train guard. She was knocking on the glass to get back on as she had mistakenly gotten off. He assumed that although she was leaning on the train she would move away if it started to move off. He was wrong in that assumption and it cost her her life. I think that qualifies as gross negligence. And gross negligence that results in death is manslaughter.

Also, if people weren't held to account for mistakes or bad practices in work we would still be in the days of scores of men being chewed up in factory machinery with no accountability.

What kind of person leans on a moving train though? It's just a stupid thing to do. Her getting off at the wrong station is her fault alone. Her leaning on the train is her fault alone. I mean really, who ever leans on a train? Obviously a very stupid girl.

It doesn't seem right that a man is in for manslaughter because a drunk and drugged imbecile didn't have the sense to stand on her own two feet without using a train as support. Her death is shocking and awful, but putting this man away for several years is extremely harsh.

Let's say I get drunk tonight and jump in front of a car. I would deserve the death that I get and no way should the driver go to prison for it. The girl essentially commited suicide.

Take you car example but change it slightly to say that the driver saw you and could have stopped if they had wanted to but assumed you would get out of the way and so carried on driving, smashed into you and killed you. Sure, you would shoulder a large proportion of blame, but there is no way that the car driver would be blameless. It is essentially the same.

Also Miles, how old were you when you first got legless? Under 18 I would guess, as with most of us. Don't judge her for being drunk. It is relevent to the circumstances I understand but it isn't a relevent factor in judging her character.

Let's say some drunk is leaning on my car and I just drive off and they fall to the ground or even hit their head and die. I really wouldn't have much sympathy and would be annoyed if I was sent to prison. You shouldn't be leaning on vehicles and especially a train. You don't lean and you don't cross the line. You have to control your own behaviour.

I first got drunk when I was 16, but I seldom recall ever leaning on any transportation. There is nothing wrong with being drunk, but there is with leaning on trains. Nobody leans on a train and falls onto the tracks. It is daft and thus she was a bit stupid.

The bolded seems a good point, but the only difference is your car would not be public transport and therefore your 'job' would not involve a duty of care. He was being paid to ensure that the train was safe to depart. He clearly failed to do this. Her being drunk does not mean that he had the right to suspend his duty of care.