15 years for the railway killers' act of vandalism

implications for railway safety in Scotland.

Gary Dougan and Craig Houston, both 17, were charged with a

vandal-type murder. Yesterday, after a seven-day trial, a jury at the

High Court in Glasgow found them guilty of the reduced charge of

culpable homicide.

There were screams in court as Dougan, of Prospecthill Street, and

Houston, of Holefarm Road, both Greenock, were found guilty.

Mr Colin Boyd, Advocate-depute, told Lord Murray that neither had been

in trouble before.

However, the judge told the teenagers he would be failing in his duty

if he sentenced them to any less than 15 years.

Both Dougan, a carpet shop salesman, and Houston, a van boy, were

found guilty of placing concrete slabs on a railway line near their

homes in Greenock on June 25 last.

Minutes later, the three-carriage Wemyss Bay/Glasgow electric train

ploughed into the obstruction on the single line track, killing the

train driver, Mr Arthur McKee, 35, of Baillieston, Glasgow, the father

of a two-year-old son. His wife had been waiting for him at Glasgow

Central.

Student Alan Nicol, 21, of Blairmore Road, Greenock, who had waved

goodbye to his fiance Tricia Darrah, 22, just minutes before was hurled

from the front carriage and died from a head injury on a bank beside the

wrecked train.

They were soon to be married. Miss Darrah, of Skelmorlie Castle Road,

Skelmorlie, was in court as the two were sentenced.

She said later: ''We had spent the evening at my mum's house talking

about our wedding plans and a holiday to Rhodes. We decided that night

that when we returned from holiday we were going to book the church and

wedding reception.

''I took Alan to the local railway station and waved goodbye. It was

one of the happiest moments of my life but within minutes he was dead

and the dream was destroyed. I am heartbroken.''

Outside the court, she added: ''Justice was done today, although it

should have been a life for a life. They'll be free in a few years time

and my Alan has gone forever.''

Two survivors of the crash owed their lives to a fear of insects.

Teenage friends Suzanne McNeil, of Renfrew, and Jane Fry, of Paisley,

had been in the front carriage until they spotted several daddy

longlegs. They moved to the back of the train.

Ticket collector Brian McGuire, 26, of Gilmour Crescent, Rutherglen,

would normally have been at the front but stopped in the middle carriage

to talk to survivor John Madden, 29, of Airlie Road, Baillieston.

Mr Madden was on the train only because there was no room in a van

taking his brother's belongings from Inverclyde to their home. Before

boarding he shook hands with the driver, who lived near him. He said

afterwards: ''The next time I saw Mr McKee it was to take his pulse in

his wrecked cabin. But he was dead.''

Mr McKee died of multiple injuries as the derailed train crashed into

a bridge. The dead student had been standing at a door in the front

carriage waiting to get off at the next stop.

The case has led to greater public awareness of the dangers of rail

vandalism and a corresponding rise in awareness on the part of police,

prosecution service, and judiciary.

There has been a marked increase in public reporting of trespass and

vandalism on railways throughout Scotland, largely attributed yesterday

by the head of British Transport Police to the media coverage of the

Greenock crash.

After the crash ScotRail put up a #10,000 reward for information

leading to arrests, and detectives toured local schools lecturing

children on the dangers of playing on railway lines.

An angry local community responded well, providing the police with

information. A picture emerged of local teenagers hanging about in the

area in the evenings, sometimes close to the railway line.

During the trial the jury heard how the two accused and their

girlfriends were drinking beer and cider at a dam near the railway that

Saturday night. Dougan and Houston admitted they went down the

embankment to urinate, but denied putting the slabs across the rails.

Dougan's girlfriend, 16-year-old Michelle Low, of Grieve Road,

Greenock, said he came back up the embankment and said that Houston had

smashed a bottle on the line.

The girl also said Dougan had told her: ''Wait and see a train

crash.'' She was later to claim he was joking and was talking about the

bottle. They were arrested on July1, and while in custody both accused

blamed each other but later changed their statements.

Last night, defence counsels Donald Findlay QC and Rita Rae QC said

they would appeal against both sentence and conviction.

Provost Alan Robertson, of Inverclyde, told The Herald: ''This was a

very traumatic incident for Greenock and for the district. Something

which started off as a prank ended with such unforeseen and serious

consequences. Our hearts went out to the families of the people who

died.

''The families of these two Greenock boys will also suffer for many

years. The lessons are both local and national: ordinary people should

come forward to report vandalism whenever they see it. No one should

walk the other way.''

Railtrack Scotland director, Mr Paul Prescott, said after the case

that it would continue to make every effort with British Transport

Police to catch offenders.

''This particular incident represents a terrible tragedy and at

Christmas our sympathies go out again to the families of those killed. I

hope the public will support the efforts of the industry and the police

to prevent such a needless tragedy happening ever again.''

Tricia Darrah