A driver who derailed an Overground train after falling asleep at the controls has been jailed.
Erkan Mehmet, 44, and of Middle Street, Waltham Abbey, pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of the railway at Inner London Crown Court and on Friday, July 7. He was sentenced him to sixteen weeks in prison.
On 12 October 2021, Mehmet was driving a London Overground train to Enfield Town. As the train entered platform two, it failed to stop and crashed into the buffers causing the front carriage to derail.
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Pictures from the scene show the carriage came completely off the tracks and stuck approximately five feet in the air at an angle. There were approximately 50 passengers on board at the time, a small number of which reported minor injuries and shock.
As is routine, Mehmet was breathalysed at the scene and blew negative, however a urine sample showed a presence of cocaine in his system at the time with a reading of 1,250 ng/mL. For cocaine to be present in a urine test it most likely entered his system in the 24 hour period before the incident.
Following the results of the urine test, Mehmet was arrested by British Transport Police (BTP) officers on 26 October and taken to police custody for questioning. In his interview he claimed to detectives he had never taken drugs in his life and had fallen asleep at the wheel after only having a couple of hours sleep the night before.
Detective Constable Gemma Littlewood said: “Train drivers are entrusted with the safety of every passenger onboard so it is frankly unthinkable that Mehmet turned up to work in a condition which left him falling asleep at the wheel, putting them all in significant danger. It is only through luck that nobody was seriously injured or worse, killed, as a result of his actions that day.
“Investigators have worked closely with Arriva Rail London, who fully supported the investigation, to ensure he has been brought before the courts to face justice and while incidents like this are rare, we will continue to relentlessly investigate anyone suspected of putting passengers in danger and hold them to account.”
Paul Hutchings, managing director at Arriva Rail London, said: "We take the safety and security of our customers and colleagues incredibly seriously. We have a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol, which exceeds industry standards, and the driver involved was immediately suspended following the incident and subsequently dismissed after returning a positive test result.”
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