Joe Dudley ran into difficulty when his fishing vessel Peace N Plenty had a fire on board six miles off Salcombe just before 6.30pm on 30 April. He called HM Coastguard reporting the problem and said he had abandoned to a life raft with a handheld VHF radio and EPIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon).

Both RNLI lifeboats from Salcombe were tasked and the skipper brought back to shore. Navigational warnings were issued for the abandoned vessel but the fire has now burned out and the boat is being towed back to harbour at Brixham. It will be inspected by a Maritime & Coastguard Agency surveyor.

Joe Dudley has recently completed a sea survival course. He said: ‘It’s incredible when you realise the things that you don’t think you’ve absorbed have actually gone in and you do all the safety things you need to.

‘I’d say to anyone thinking about doing a sea survival course to do it and to listen seriously because it could save your life.’

Tago Mcleod, from HM Coastguard based at Falmouth said: ‘This was a man who did everything right from the moment he realised he had a problem. He had a fully registered EPIRB which he activated right away, he was wearing a lifejacket and made ready his lifeboat. The EPIRB helped us establish his position to within a few metres. At the same time he called a family member who then was able to liaise with us.

‘We are always on hand in an emergency to rescue people who have called us on their VHF radio or calling 999 and asking for the coastguard, but this was someone who had understood the need to take responsibility for his own safety and did everything right to make the job of finding him easier.’

Transcript of International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox’s speech at an International Education Strategy event in London.

Summary

At around 14:03 hrs on 7 September 2018, a passenger and her dog were involved in a train dispatch accident at Elstree and Borehamwood station. The dog’s lead became trapped in the closed doors of a departing train, dragging the dog off the platform and leading to its death. The passenger was not injured but was very distressed.

The accident happened because the train driver did not observe the passenger in close proximity to the train, both before he decided to close the train doors and before he decided it was safe to depart from the station. An on-train CCTV system is provided to allow the driver to monitor the side of the train and the adjacent platform edge during the dispatch process.

The design of the door obstacle-detection system was such that a thin object, such as the dog’s lead, could not be detected. As a result, the train was able to depart with the dog’s lead trapped in the closed door.

Recommendations

As a result of this investigation, the RAIB has made two recommendations. The first is made to Govia Thameslink Railway. It relates to the development of suitable guidance to drivers on the time needed to safely observe the platform-train interface before and after closing the train doors, and enhancing its driver management processes by routinely monitoring the safety of train dispatch. The second recommendation is made to the Rail Delivery Group, in consultation with RSSB and train operators. It relates to investigating technologies to better assist train dispatch staff to detect people or items which may become trapped in train doors.

Notes to editors

1. The sole purpose of RAIB investigations is to prevent future accidents and incidents and improve railway safety. RAIB does not establish blame, liability or carry out prosecutions.
2. RAIB operates, as far as possible, in an open and transparent manner. While our investigations are completely independent of the railway industry, we do maintain close liaison with railway companies and if we discover matters that may affect the safety of the railway, we make sure that information about them is circulated to the right people as soon as possible, and certainly long before publication of our final report.
3. For media enquiries, please call 01932 440015.

Newsdate: 1 May 2019

RAIB has today released its report into a train dispatch accident at Elstree & Borehamwood station, 7 September 2018.

We have amended legal aid legislation to ensure that claimants of the Windrush compensation scheme are not disadvantaged in applying for legal aid.

What has changed?

As of the 1st May 2019 amendments will come into force which change the following legal aid regulations to enable such payments to be disregarded from both civil and criminal legal aid eligibility assessments:

• The Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013
• The Criminal Legal Aid (Financial Resources) Regulations 2013
• The Criminal Legal Aid (Contribution Orders) Regulations 2013

These amendments will ensure that the receipt of such compensation payments will not affect an individual’s eligibility for legal aid or liability to pay contributions.

Further information

Disregard of Windrush compensation scheme payments guidance – full information for legal aid providers

Windrush compensation scheme guidance – for full details regarding the scheme