Train Guard Found Guilty Over Girl's Death

[blisterpack]

I saw this article today and am really confused. How can a train guard be found guilty of manslaughter when an accident like this happens? And the quote from the poor guard,
McGee told the jury he thought Georgia was moving away from the train when he gave the signal to depart. He also said he did not know how drunk she was.

Should he have known then?

[FastidiaBlueberry]

It's absolutely right that this man is in jail.

There is no way he could have not known what he was doing, the platform is clear, the girl is banging on the window and trying to get back on the train. Why didn't he let her? Why did he have such hostility to a drunken teenager, that he was prepared to at the very least separate her from her friends while she was in a state and at the worst, risk her death, which it is HIS JOB to try and prevent?

I can't understand why everyone's so sympathetic to him, what he did was intentionally cruel. Of course I don't think he deliberately killed her, he obviously didn't think she'd die, but his motivation in not letting her back on to the train when she was a drunk vulnerable kid, is highly questionable and I remember the horror I felt when I first heard this story, that someone would have been so nasty to a drunk teenage girl even without the tragic consequences.

The self-righteous bastards who talk about how it's her parent's fault because she was drunk, would it have been OK if she'd been 20 and at uni, so out of her parent's care? Just remember your kids might one day make a mistake and drink too much and hope to God that they don't come across a pissed off bus-driver or train guard who has seen one too many drunken young people that night and can't be bothered to be patient and decent.

[Northernlurker]

The lass was drunk and had used some drugs. BUT had it not been for the neglect of the train guard, in all probability she would have got home safe with her mates. Reading the report it's obvious that her mother feels understandably bitter by the impression given of her daughter in court. The guard should have ensured everybody on the platform was clear of the train. He failed in that and somebody died. He may talk of all the surrounding circumstances all he likes but fact remains that he didn't do his job. The lass was right there in front of him and he didn't do his job. 5 years for a life lost is fair enough to me. Blaming her parents is vile btw.

[FastidiaBlueberry]

I also agree with those who think it's mad that he gets 5 years while motorists get sod all, but I just think motorists should get higher sentences for killing people while driving when it's their fault. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that you serve 5 years if you kill someone unintentionally because of your own negligence (as opposed to a genuine accident) whether you're a bus driver, a train guard or a car driver.

[5madthings]

Hiz job was to ensure the train deoaeted safely, he didnt do that so yes he is culpable.

We can argue till.the cows come home about terns getting drunk etc but its something that teens do, you can say your child wont do it all.you like but unless you physically kerp them.in or folliw them around when rhey are out you arent going to stop it.

I was a top set student at a grammar school, i still went out and got drunk underage, thankfully i didnt come to any serious harm, which was down to luck.

Nobody us saying it is ok for teens to get drunk/take drugs but it does happen and this girl didnt deserve to die. The man in question was neglegent and didnt do his job properly.

[SaraBellumHertz]

Pinkforever - how do you feel about boys that are drunk and get bottled in a club or girls who are raped having been let out the house at 16? Is that also their fault?

[CindySherman]

The correct and decent thing to do when you see a young girl/man drunk and vulnerable trying to get to her friends is to help and assist and do something to remove her/ him from danger. Not deliberately hurt them.

I honestly think anyone blaming her parents for this are quite disturbed and lacking in basic humanity.
I sincerely hope and pray your children don't make one error of judgement out there in the wide world and encounter a rapist/ murderer/ spiteful person who has no regard for their safely or wellbeing.

[expatinscotland]

I can't say I blame the parents. She was 16, her mother's only child.

I think that motorists who kill should receive harsher sentences in line with this person's, however.

[CindySherman]

Was she her only child

[anniewoo]

I feel really really sorry for the guard.
Personal responsibility has gone out the window.

[edam]

I don't blame the parents but apparently they have been vociferous in blaming everyone else, inc. the family of the birthday girl. Which is a. wrong and b. unfair given they weren't around for whatever reason.

[FastidiaBlueberry]

If it weren't nauseating, it would be quite funny to hear a bunch of mothers talking about how a dead child should have had more of a sense of personal responsibility while totally exonerating the lack of it in a grown man who was being well-paid to have one.

How much we expect of teenage girls and how little of (paid) grown men.

[Northernlurker]

Exactly. This is a reasonable conviction and a sentence in line with the magnitude of the offence.

[sashh]

I also agree with those who think it's mad that he gets 5 years while motorists get sod all

Really?

This man was paid to make sure things like this don't happen. That is why his job exists.