Loudoun cleared over rollercoaster death

[MattLCV]

Loudoun Castle has been cleared of blame following the tragic accident which caused the death of ride operator Mark Blackwood in 2007.

Rides supervisor Gary Erskine told the court that he had trained Mark on the rollercoaster on July 15 2007.

He had shown Mark how to operate the ride and had also supervised him operating it himself.

Questioned by Susan Duff, defending, he said that, as part of the training, he had reiterated standing instructions that operators should never enter the ride area and that any breakdown should be reported to the park’s maintenance department.
....
The jury heard that in June 2007 an accident at a European fairground had led to a notice being posted in the ‘staff bungalow’ at the theme park warning again that operators should not go into the ride area and should call maintenance if there were any difficulties.

This had been followed up by a staff meeting and advice to individual ride operators, including Mark Blackwood.

If any good can be taken from all this then hopefully other ride ops will be more vigilant in future and with the trial now finished, Mark's friends and family will be allowed some form of closure.

http://www.kilmarnockstandard.co.uk/ayr ... -24869435/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/gla ... 307715.stm