Marchioness justice warning

Families want action to prevent further accidents

A lawyer representing families affected by the Marchioness riverboat tragedy has warned: "Justice is being sacrificed."

Michael Mansfield, QC, said corporate groups responsible for navigation had said they would only give evidence if guaranteed immunity from prosecution.

He told the second preliminary hearing of a public inquiry into the accident that this bargaining threatened all future investigations.

Fifty-one people died and 80 were rescued when the Marchioness sank in the River Thames in central London after colliding with the dredger Bow Belle in August 1989.

In 1995 a Marchioness inquest jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing" but the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to justify further criminal proceedings.

Immunity pledge

Mr Mansfield, representing the Marchioness Contact Group, was at a preliminary hearing to consider whether witnesses at the inquiry starting in October should be immune from prosecution.

Attorney General, Lord Williams of Mostyn, is happy to ensure that no evidence given to the Marchioness formal investigation will be used in evidence in any criminal proceedings.

Shaun Lockwood-Croft: Marchioness victim

The Marchioness Action Group, a larger group of survivors and bereaved, said it was happy with the Attorney General's position.

But Mr Mansfield told the hearing the separate Marchioness Contact Group was not.

"We are concerned that in future inquiries people will be able to say that they won't give evidence unless they get immunity from prosecution."

Inquiry chairman Lord Justice Clarke said he would consider all submissions and include his own views before writing to the Attorney General about immunity from prosecution.

Several of those bereaved by the disaster were at the hearing in Westminster, on Friday.

"We can't alter the past," said Margaret Lockwood-Croft, who lost her son Shaun, 26.

"We just want questions answered and we want to see changes made in the way accidents are handled."

Douglas Henderson, the captain of the Bow Belle was tried in 1991 for failing to keep a proper lookout.

The jury failed to reach a verdict, as did another jury at a second trial and he was formally acquitted.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report in August 1991 said the failure of lookouts on both ships was the immediate cause of the tragedy.

The report also cited marine regulation faults going back 25 years.