Georgia Varley train guard to be jailed after being found guilty of student’s manslaughter

Nov 15 2012 by Gary Stewart, Liverpool Echo

A MERSEYRAIL guard who was on duty when a teenager fell under his train was today facing jail after being found guilty of manslaughter.

Christopher McGee, 45, was working on the last train out of West Kirby into Liverpool city centre on October 22 last year when the tragedy happened.

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Varley, who had been celebrating her friend’s 18th birthday at a house party in Hoylake, fell between the platform and train at James Street station and was killed instantly.

McGee (pictured), who had a duty to look after the health and safety of people on the train and the platform, was arrested and charged with manslaughter.

He denied the charge but, after an eight-day trial , the jury of five men and six women found him guilty of the Birkenhead Sixth Form College student’s manslaughter “by gross negligence”.

The jury was discharged from reaching a verdict in an alternative, lesser charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

McGee, of Edenhurst Avenue, Wallasey, was shaking in the dock and appeared to blink away tears as the verdict was delivered.

VIDEO: Mother's moving tribute to Georgia Varley

He joined Merseyrail in 1990 and had worked as a guard for 20 years before Georgia’s death.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, he filled out a form saying he thought Georgia was moving away from the train when he signalled the driver to pull away, but CCTV showed that wasn’t the case and she was in fact leaning on the window.

During the trial, Nicholas Johnson, QC, prosecuting, suggested to McGee that he had been “exasperated” by Georgia’s behaviour during the brief journey from the Wirral after she caused delays on the line.

McGee agreed it was a rowdy train, but denied being annoyed with Georgia particularly.

Jurors heard she had drunk vodka at the party and taken a party drug called Mcat before falling down some stairs.

She had continued to be unsteady on her feet all night, especially as she was wearing four inch high heels and had fallen over several times on the way to the station and on the train.

She got off at Meols by accident and others had to hold the door open for her to get back on, causing McGee to step off to see what was happening.

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