Editing Selby rail crash (section)

==Aftermath==
Hart was tried at [[Leeds Crown Court]] on ten counts of [[causing death by dangerous driving]].<ref>{{cite news |date=28 November 2001 |title=Selby crash driver trial begins |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1680328.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=10 August 2024 }}</ref> He pleaded not guilty. The prosecution alleged that Hart had fallen asleep while driving, after having spent five hours the previous night on the phone to a woman he had met through an advert on an internet dating agency.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 November 2001 |title=Selby driver 'fell asleep' at the wheel |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1680492.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=10 August 2024 }}</ref> He had been on the phone call from 21:48 to 02:58, and sent text messages between 03:11 and 03:57. He did not get any sleep before leaving his house and starting his journey 90 minutes after the end of the phone call.<ref name="fast-life-guardian">{{cite news |last=Ward |first=David |date=14 December 2001 |title=Fast life of man who rarely slept |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/14/selby.railtravel4 |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> As part of their investigation, the police tried to replicate the drive, which was {{convert|65|miles|abbr=on}} in 70 minutes. With a police escort, and after going like a "bat out of hell", they completed the journey with two minutes to spare.<ref>{{cite news |last=Keely |first=Alistair |date=13 December 2001 |title=Investigation centred on Hart's Land Rover |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/13/selby.railtravel4 |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Hart denied the allegations, saying that he did not fall asleep while driving, and he would have pulled over if he was tired.<ref name="selby-bbc">{{cite news |date=5 December 2001 |title=Selby crash driver 'was not asleep' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1693269.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=10 August 2024 }}</ref> He said that he could go 36 hours without sleep, and that he heard a loud bang before the car left the road, and thought it could have been a puncture.<ref name="fast-life-guardian"/><ref name="independent">{{cite news |last=North |first=Ian Herbert |date=29 November 2001 |title=Selby crash driver 'fell asleep in car after talking through night to internet woman' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/selby-crash-driver-fell-asleep-in-car-after-talking-through-night-to-internet-woman-9227000.html |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Hart initially told the police on the day of the crash that he had slept for two-and-a-half to three hours that night. However, he later said that he had not slept because he was "buzzing with excitement" ahead of planning to meet the woman later that day, and that he was in shock when he gave his initial account to the police.<ref name="selby-bbc"/><ref name="independent"/>

Hart was found guilty on 13 December 2001.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oliver |first=Mark |date=13 December 2001 |title=Motorist guilty of causing Selby train crash deaths |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/13/selby.railtravel1 |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> On 11 January 2002, he was sentenced to five years in prison and given a five-year driving ban after the jury found that he had fallen asleep while driving.<ref>{{cite news |last=Oliver |first=Mark |date=11 January 2002 |title=Selby crash motorist receives five year sentence |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/11/selby.railtravel |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> He was released from prison in July 2004 after serving half of his sentence, which is normal practice in the United Kingdom for this kind of sentence.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/3884897.stm|title=Selby crash driver's jail release|date=12 July 2004|work=BBC News|access-date=17 December 2019|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803000006/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/3884897.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Determinate prison sentences – Sentencing |url=https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/types-of-sentence/determinate-prison-sentences/ |website=Sentencing Council |access-date=10 August 2024 }}</ref> An [[Inquests in England and Wales|inquest]] into the deaths of the ten victims opened on 8 September 2003 in [[Harrogate]].<ref>{{cite web |date=8 September 2003 |title=Inquest into Selby rail deaths |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7016631.inquest-selby-rail-deaths/ |access-date=24 August 2024 |website=The Northern Echo }}</ref> On 12 September 2003, the jury decided that all ten people who died in the accident were unlawfully killed.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 September 2003 |title=Selby victims 'unlawfully killed' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/3103590.stm |access-date=24 August 2024 }}</ref>

In total, Hart's insurers, [[Fortis Group|Fortis]], who provided him with an unlimited liability third-party fire and theft policy, paid out £30&nbsp;million as a result of the crash.<ref>{{cite web |last=Poole |first=Keith |date=12 April 2024 |title='Million-to-one' accident could leave £50m claim |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/milliontoone-accident-could-leave-ps50m-claim-6335090.html |access-date=10 August 2024 |website=Evening Standard }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Clark |first=Andrew |date=10 November 2004 |title=All policyholders may foot bill for expected record insurance payout |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2004/nov/10/ufton.motorinsurance |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In October 2003, Fortis was a party in a legal case in the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]], to try to recover some of the funds it had paid out. They alleged that the safety barrier was too short, and in a statement said that if it had been longer, the crash would not have happened.<ref>{{cite news |title=Selby insurer's compensation claim |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/3170834.stm |accessdate=6 March 2017 |work=BBC News |date=7 October 2003 |archive-date=26 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826062115/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/3170834.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> On 30 October 2003, the judge ruled that negligence on behalf of the Highways Agency had not been established, and that Hart was the precipitating cause of the accident.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wainwright |first=Martin |date=31 October 2003 |title=Selby crash driver's insurers lose claim for cash |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/oct/31/uk.transport |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Fortis held a [[reinsurance]] policy, so only had to pay the first £1.5&nbsp;million themselves, with the remainder being paid by [[Munich Re]], up to the threshold of their reinsurance policy.<ref>{{cite journal |date=23 May 2001 |title=Munich Re faces £31m bill for Selby rail crash |journal=Informa Insurance News 24 |url=https://www.i-law.com/ilaw/doc/view.htm?id=21140 }}</ref>

===Memorials===
[[File:Memorial garden, Great Heck - geograph.org.uk - 434729.jpg|thumb|right|The memorial garden, with the East Coast Main Line in the background, in May 2007|alt=A circular garden with a plaque in the foreground, with an [[InterCity 225]] travelling along the [[East Coast Main Line]] in the background]]
Freightliner named a locomotive "Driver Steve Dunn (George)" in memory of the freight train driver killed in the collision.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Marsden |first1=Colin |title=Freightliner honours Great Heck driver...and twins with Enron |magazine=The Railway Magazine |date=November 2001 |volume=147 |issue=1207|page=65 |publisher=IPC Media |location=London |issn=0033-8923}}</ref> GNER honoured the InterCity 225's driver, John Weddle, by naming a new driver-training school in his home city of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] after him. On 10 July 2002, in a ceremony attended by members of his family, his 16-year-old daughter Stephanie unveiled a plaque dedicating the school to his memory.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2119335.stm |title=Selby rail driver honoured |date=10 July 2002 |accessdate=4 March 2015 |work=BBC News |archive-date=30 July 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040730090355/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2119335.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Seventeen books of condolences were created and put out at GNER stations for the public to sign. These were damaged by a flood while in storage, but were later restored and put into a collection by the [[National Railway Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |date=9 April 2016 |title=Selby rail disaster books of condolence are painstakingly restored, after being damaged by York floods |url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/14413796.selby-rail-disaster-books-of-condolence-are-painstakingly-restored-after-being-damaged-by-york-floods/ |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=York Press }}</ref> A stone memorial garden was created close to the crash site, with a plaque which was unveiled a year on from the crash, by the first person on scene after the accident.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wainwright |first=Martin |date=1 March 2002 |title=Memorial services held for Selby rail crash victims |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/01/selby.railtravel |access-date=24 August 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>