He lost his friend when a 'giggle' on train tracks turned to tragedy - then ended up in court

A man whose friend lost his life dragging him to safety from a railway track was today cleared of his manslaughter.

Patrick Kennedy, 49, sat down between the rails near Prestatyn Station in North Wales 'for a giggle', a court heard, but his friend Keith Ford, 40, pulled him clear seconds before Mr Ford was struck and killed by a train bound for Holyhead.

Both Mr Kennedy, from Cheetham Hill, Manchester, and Mr Ford, from Urmston, Trafford, had been drinking, a court was told.

Mr Kennedy was cleared at Mold Crown Court in Wales on Friday of the manslaughter of Mr Ford and another charge of endangering the safety of people on a railway.

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A jury of six men and six women had been hearing evidence in the trial which began on Monday. The trial judge, Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin, directed them to find Mr Kennedy not guilty.

Mr Justice Nicklin said Mr Ford committed a 'no doubt courageous and selfless act' in saving his friend, and he did so 'of his own free will'.

Both men, who had arrived at nearby Greenacres and Sunny Sands caravan park on Shore Road, Prestatyn, hours earlier, had been drinking before the incident on July 13, 2022, reports North Wales Live.

On Monday, the jury heard that Mr Ford and Mr Kennedy had left their caravan park that day and trespassed onto the railway, passing a sign indicating trespassers face a £1,000 penalty. The Holyhead to Birmingham International train, travelling at 62mph, reached the two men at 5.05pm.

Prosecutor William Hughes KC had said Mr Kennedy "heard and saw it" and decided to sit in the four feet gap between each rail "for a giggle", joking to Mr Ford he would "catch the train to the beach".

But Mr Killeen claimed on Monday that Mr Kennedy's intention - in beach shorts, no shoes and no top - was to go to the beach but they jointly decided to trespass on the railway. During the "blur of drink on the part of both of them" the defendant made a joke about getting a train to the beach.

Maybe as Mr Ford had been driving earlier he had drunk less and been more astutely saw the danger of the approaching train. "How does the act of (Mr Kennedy) sitting down cause Mr Ford's death? It doesn't", argued Mr Killeen.

He added: "One man sadly has lost his life, the other is permanently disfigured forever but he's alive. But that should not be an excuse for saying someone has got to pay."

The judge said: "Mr Ford’s death is not...something for which the defendant is responsible under the criminal law."