Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many occasions in the past five years a police force has declared a "scene of crime" on:
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- (a) the Highways Agency road network; and
- (b) the Network Rail network. [HL4603]
§ Lord Davies of OldhamThe Highways Agency does not keep detailed records of all the incidents that occur on its roads. The police handle any accident scene in accordance with their road death investigation manual. This does not require a declaration of a scene of crime, but requires that incidents be treated as such until the cause of the accident is determined. This ensures that the scene is kept sterile and preserves; it in order to capture and record evidence.
On the railways, the British Transport Police are required to establish if any incident may have occured through a criminal act and protect and preserve the evidence. This standard approach is applied to all incidents they deal with.
Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which police force declared that the slow speed derailment of a train at Kings Cross Station on 16th September was a "scene of crime"; and for how many hours this remained in force; and [HL4604]
How the declaration of a "scene of crime" at Kings Cross Station on 16th September following a slow speed derailment contributed to re-establishing normal rail services in the shortest possible time. [HL4605]
§ Lord Davies of OldhamNo "scene of crime" was declared for this incident. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was the first organisation to attend the incident and it was decided by all the agencies involved that the HSE would have primacy in this investigation. The British Transport Police provided assistance to HSE through their crime scene investigators to preserve and examine the scene and gather evidence. This assistance was provided to facilitate the HSE operation and ensure the site was returned to Network Rail at the earliest opportunity.