TfL criticised after man killed on Tube track in police search | UK News

A man fleeing from police was electrocuted and then hit by a London Underground train which was searching for him, his inquest has heard.

Senior coroner Andrew Walker said Transport for London’s (TfL) response was “inadequate” after Robert English, 32, was killed in May 2024 when he was walking along the track near Colindale station in north London following reports of a fight.

TfL staff had initially turned off the power supply but then restored it after police mistakenly believed Mr English had climbed over a fence that separated the station from a park, the inquest heard.

A Tube train that had been held stationary then began to search the track and ran him over.

Claire Mann, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “We are committed to working with policing partners and reviewing our own operational practices to learn from this incident.”

Mr English was last seen at about 01:00 BST on 19 May but “made his way into the night beyond the station” after two officers “sought to contain him rather than restrain him”, according to Mr Walker, senior coroner for northern London.

The 32-year-old was electrocuted before being run over by a search train about 500m (1,640ft) from the station.

Mr Walker said that the train “was not adequately equipped to conduct such a search in darkness and this response was inadequate”.

The power was wrongly restored because the station manager confirmed that the police had left and Mr Walker was nowhere to be seen, having climbed a fence a left the track, the coroner said.

Mr Walker wrote that TfL had not followed its own rulebook, in particular by failing to tell “all the relevant people” that the power supply was about to be switched on.

He added: “This would have given the (Metropolitan) police and British Transport Police an opportunity to confirm that Mr English had not been found and was likely still on the railway side of the tracks.

“It is likely that had this step been followed the power supply would not have been switched on and a proper search, which was also possible, is likely to have found Mr English and returned him safely to the station.”

The police watchdog ruled in June 2024 that an investigation was not required.

In April, TfL was urged to deliver a “concrete plan” to prevent intoxicated passengers being killed on its network following the accidental death of an artist in a Tube tunnel after a night out in London.

Ms Mann added: “Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Robert English following his tragic death last year.

“We undertook a formal investigation of the incident and assisted the coroner during the inquest.

“We are thoroughly reviewing the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report before responding in full and will consider any appropriate actions to make the transport network as safe as possible.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We are considering the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report.”