Article: QR facing flood of assault compo claims

[ozbob]

From Brisbanetimes  click here!

QR facing flood of assault compo claims

QR facing flood of assault compo claims
Christine Kellett | August 21, 2008 - 3:05PM

Train bashing victims will be queuing up to sue Queensland Rail over lax security measures that amount to a breach of its duty of care, a Brisbane lawyer has warned.

The public transport authority was this month served with legal papers by the family of Scott Lillicrap, 35, the Gold Coast father of two stomped almost to death in a savage mob attack at Sunnybank railway station two years ago.

His family claim security measures were seriously lacking when a gang of youths beat and robbed Mr Lillicrap before dragging his unconscious body and dumping it on a mattress beside a charity bin in the station's car park.

They say bystanders tried to raise the alarm, but rail officers ignored the calls, believing it was a prank.

Brisbane lawyer and compensation specialist Mark O'Connor described assault statistics on QR's rail network as "frightening" and left the State Government wide open to claims by other victims of crime.

He said public transport users could take little comfort from the rail authority's assurances that attacks on trains accounted for only two ir three per cent of those committed in the wider community, or that more transit officers and security cameras made train travel safe.

"Given the number of rail network passengers versus the whole community, an assault rate of two to three per cent would be quite high and nothing to be proud of," Mr O'Connor said.

"Many of the assaults are happening in station car parks or on railway station premises, while the focus of security measures seems to be on the trains, and stations are just covered by so-called security cameras.

"Security cameras do not stop assaults, they just record what has happened.

"Queensland Rail cannot just provide security people on its trains, festoon security cameras around the stations and say that's all they need to do. Security at railway stations should not be confined to the trains and the platforms.

"I expect the areas of responsibility for QR may be tested in the courts through compensation claims. Everyone will be watching the current case because it essentially is a court test of whether the Queensland Rail system is safe or not."

Mr Lillicrap had been returning home from a Broncos football match on July 30, 2006, when he was approached by his attackers on the platform of Sunnybank railway station.

He spent time in a coma and now has a six-month gap in his memory as a result of his injuries.

One of his attackers is currently appealing the severity of his nine year jail sentence.

[ozbob]

I think the offenders who do the assaulting should be held financially accountable as well as criminally liable.

There is a limit that any transport authority can be expected to reasonably maintain.  Does a person assaulted at a bus stop, as happened recently, sue the bus line?  Guess they will in view of the litigation madness that is running amok.  Security guards at every bus stop? 

Some aspects of security may well need more attention, but the fundamental problem is the breakdown in social and individual responsibility and accountability.


Cheers
Bob

[brad C]

Some aspects of security may well need more attention, but the fundamental problem is the breakdown in social and individual responsibility and accountability.

I couldn't agree more Bob. An unfortunate incident which could have easily occurred in the streets or pathways adjacent to the station.

Whilst QR spends a considerable sum of public funds on after dark 'Customer Service Officers', my observations suggest that the public is poorly served by their presence. For example at some stations they hide behind the vertical drapes within the building, they cannot sell you a ticket or even allow you to re-sign for a bike locker and seem to spend a large amount of time sweeping up cigarette buts and emptying bins.
If I was a female detraining at a lonley station, I would not feel complacent about my security because of the presence of a CSO.
On the other hand I would not like to see the Gestapo at each rail station.