Mother condemns lack of care after son's rail death

Apr 29 2004 By Mary Murtagh, Daily Post

Stephen Nesbitt, of Hornby Road, Bootle, died after he stepped on a live rail at Oriel Road station, Bootle, on August 16, 2003.

He would have been celebrating his ninth birthday on Friday.

A jury at the inquest into his death at Bootle Town Hall returned a verdict of misadventure yesterday.

Earlier, the inquest heard how an afternoon playing during the summer holidays ended in tragedy.

Stephen and three nine-year-old friends had been joking, wrestling and playing outside Bootle Town Hall before they made their way onto the station platform where Stephen jumped onto the tracks.

Stephen's mother Elaine O'Brien, 44, said the family were considering taking legal action over his death.

She said: "It is appalling. There is not enough supervision at Oriel Road station. If anyone had challenged him then maybe Stephen would still be here.

"I would like to see the station upgraded, turnstiles fitted and CCTV where they can see who is on the platforms and entering the station.

"This has torn us apart. I would warn anyone crossing the tracks to think about the consequences of what they are doing."

Stephen was the youngest of six children. His sisters Rebecca and Rachel and grandparents were at the inquest.

Rebecca, 20, said: "It is wrong that they were allowed to play on the station at all. Kids should not be able to get on the tracks. Stephen was just a one-off.

"Wherever he went he had a gang of friends with him. We are all devastated by what has happened.."

At the time of his death, CCTV from Oriel Road station was monitored at Merseyrail control centre at Sandhills.

But a new CCTV system - which allows staff at Oriel Road station to watch what is going on - was installed earlier this year and is an addition to CCTV monitoring by the Sandhills control centre.

Leslie Cusick, safety director of Merseyrail, told the inquest: "The cameras are not monitored continually - that would be impractical.

"Oriel Road station had local monitoring installed three to four months ago. This was in no relation to Stephen's death.

"Staff cannot sit and monitor it all the time. They have 101 other things to do as well.

"They can target the camera and it's not just used for anti-social behaviour. They're looking for trains. They watch the monitor depending on what's going on in the station."