Alton Towers Smiler crash: Victims 'shocked and disappointed by catalogue of errors'

Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions was fined £5 million after admitting health and safety breaches over the crash.

Two teenagers - Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17 - each lost a leg in the collision in June last year which "changed the lives of some of those injured in the most dramatic way", according to a judge.

Stafford Crown Court heard that the victims had watched with "disbelief and horror" before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened by the prosecution to a 90mph car crash.

Miss Balch, Miss Washington, fellow front-row passengers Joe Pugh and Daniel Thorpe, and Chandaben Chauhan, who was sitting in the second row, were all seriously injured when their fully-laden 16-seater carriage was crushed against the other car.

Outside court, Ms Chauhan, from Wednesbury, who was on the second row of the Smiler with her two daughters, said the fine was "irrelevant" to her family.

She said: "I did think it was going to be more but as I said before it is still irrelevant to what situation we're still in."

Ms Chauhan, who suffered serious abdominal injuries in the crash, added: "£5 million doesn't mean anything to me.

"It is justice on what they've done."

She claimed that money from Merlin to pay for medical treatment for her family had also "stopped".

Asked if she thought anyone should resign, she said: "I think the engineers or the people who make the procedures for these rides - I'd like to see something, but then again what difference is that going to make to us?

"We've had it, we've been there."

Earlier, Mr Varney had ignored questions from reporters over whether he should resign.

Ms Chauhan said the accident had changed her from a "confident" person to one whose family had been left "totally broken".

The mother-of-two, who said the crash had left her physically and mentally scarred, added: "I'm scared to go in a car even now but I do it because I have to, I'm a mother and I want to be independent and it's taken me nearly a year just to be out here like this."

Speaking after the hearing, Paul Paxton, of Stewart's Law, representing eight of the crash victims, said: "Symbolically and practically, today marks a closure of what has been a long and painful chapter for my clients - one in which they have frequently been exposed to the horrors of that day back in June last year.

"The court have imposed what we believe is a record fine for the industry, but of course money alone will never replace limbs nor heal the psychological scars."

He added: "It is worth remembering that this hearing is the first time my clients have heard the full extent of the criticisms against them (Merlin).

"To be candid, they have been shocked and disappointed by the catalogue of errors.

"The list goes on and on - a catastrophic failure to assess risk, inadequate training, inadequate supervision, inadequate management.

"Failure to communciate, failure to put in place safe systems of work.

"But this has not been about retribution; this has been about finding out why this accident occurred and making sure lessons have been learned not just by Merlin but by others throughout the industry and I think my clients can take comfort from that."

She said: "My personal message to Merlin, to the legal side - just do the right thing and look after us all.

"Psychologically, psychiatric effects on people are invisible but they are there, do not be fooled. We struggle every day with it."

Neil Craig, head of operations for HSE in the Midlands, said: "When people visit theme parks they should be able to enjoy themselves safely.

"On June 2 last year Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd failed to protect their customers.

"They let them badly down. It is right that they've been held to account for those failings in a criminal court.

"This avoidable incident happened because Merlin failed to put in place systems that would allow their engineers to work safely on the ride.

"This made it all too easy for a whole series of unchecked mistakes, not just the single push of a button, to result in tragedy.

"Since the incident Merlin have made improvements to the ride and to their safety protocol and the lessons learned have been shared with the industry."