Man, 32, fleeing police was electrocuted on railway track then run over by train that was sent to look for him

Daily Mail​

21 hours ago

A train which had been sent to search for a man on the tracks on the London Underground ended up running him over after he was electrocuted.
Robert English, 32, had been walking down a section of track in the dark between Hendon Central Station and Burnt Oak Underground when the power was switched back on and he was electrocuted.
He was then run over by a tube train which had been sent to search for him.
He was last seen at 1am on May 19, when police mistakenly believed he had climbed over a fence that separated the railway lines from a park.
The power to the tracks was then switched back on, killing Mr English by electrocution.
Senior coroner Andrew Walker said the train was not adequately equipped to conduct a search in darkness.
In a prevention of future deaths report, Mr Walker raised concerns about the lighting on the railway network.
Claire Mann, TfL's chief operating officer, told BBC News: 'We are committed to working with policing partners and reviewing our own operational practices to learn from this incident.'
Earlier in the evening, two police officers had followed Mr English into Colindale railway station, concerned about his welfare. They sought to contain him rather than restrain him, the report said.
Upon seeing the police, Mr English left the platform and ran alongside the tracks.
The local station manager asked for the power supply to be turned off.
Officers witness Mr English climb up a part of the fence into a park but could not confirm whether he had climbed over it.
Members of the public gave police the wrong impression that Mr English had left the track and had made his way to the park.
Officers made their way to the park where they were told by another member of the public that a person had been seen on the railway side of the fence.
Whilst the officers were searching the park, the station manager was asked by a service manager to check whether the police were still on the platform.
Seeing that the officers had left and having told by the police that the man had climbed over the fence, the service manager asked to station manager to ask for power to be switched back on.
A train, that had been stationary, was then sent to search the track and ran over Mr English who had made it around 400 to 600 metres from the station.
Mr Walker wrote: 'The requirements within the rule book when switching the power supply to the rails were not followed in particular telling all the relevant people that the power supply to the rails is about to be switched on.
'This would have given the Police and British Transport Police an opportunity to confirm that Mr English had not been found and was likely still on the railway side of the tracks.
'It is likely that had this step been followed the power supply would not have been switched on and a proper search, which was also possible, is likely to have found Mr English and returned him safely to the station.'
He added: 'The provision to protect a trespasser at night are the same as those during the day.
'The ability to locate a person close to or on the railway lines at night is made more difficult by the absence of suitable lights on the track or the train. In this case Mr English was not seen and run over by the train that has been asked to look for a person on the line.'
Ms Mann added: 'Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Robert English following his tragic death last year.
'We are thoroughly reviewing the coroner's prevention of future deaths report before responding in full and will consider any appropriate actions to make the transport network as safe as possible.'