Failures led to girl, 15, being electrocuted on railway – Report

Communication failures between police and a railway operator led to a 15-year-old girl being electrocuted on a railway line, a report has revealed.

The incident occurred in March 2023 after police were called to respond to a trespassing incident, but told their control room they could not see anyone from a bridge.

This led to the track power being switched back on, despite a lack of detailed search or oversight from police supervisors, Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (PDSCP) said.

The girl’s mother felt her daughter was “failed by all”, including care authorities, the report added.

The tragic incident occurred when the “intoxicated” teenager decided to walk home along the track after a night out with friends. But at 1 am, there were reports of trespass on a train line in the local area.

Dorset Police attended the area but said they “couldn’t see anyone from the bridge”, and this led to Network Rail deciding to re-energise the track, in line with policy and procedure.

However, according to the report, British Transport Police (BTP), supervisors were not made aware of the incident and BTP staff did not know what the search had involved.

Sarah Holtom, who investigated and published the report said the girl had previously used the track as a “shortcut” and had not been warned of the dangers by authorities.

The teenager, who was given the pseudonym “Edie” in the report, also had complex needs, Ms. Holtom said.

She wrote: “Life became difficult for Edie, aged 13 years, following the death of her much-loved horse.”

The teenager was excluded by all six mainstream schools in her area, drank to excess and used and sold drugs.

In December 2022, Edie went to the railway station “with the intention of hurting herself”.

A week before her death, she reportedly took an overdose but absconded from hospital.

The report said authorities missed opportunities to intervene following both incidents.

It said the lack of a suitable education for Edie prompted one professional to comment that she had been “set up to fail”.

One of the failures included a decision to not provide CAMHS mental health services to Edie “due to parenting issues” which “could be construed as victim blaming”, the report added.

It said agencies should have done more to understand the needs of Edie’s mother, who had separate issues and often asked for help for her daughter before withdrawing consent.

An inquest into the death is due to be held at a later date.

Further reading

Accident in public places – Oakwood Solicitors

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