A criminal prosecution could be initiated over the death of an Irish student who was killed in London by a train while working part-time for a railway maintenance subcontractor, it has emerged.
Mr Michael Mungovan (22) was working unsupervised near Vauxhall station in south London when he was struck in the early hours of October 9th, 2000.
A jury at Southwark Coroner's Court yesterday returned a verdict of unlawful killing on the student, who was only three days into the job.
The student's family claimed later that he had not been trained properly and blamed his death on the privatisation of Britain's rail network. Mr Mungovan, who was a talented Gaelic footballer, was studying at Brunel University in London to become a physical education teacher.
After the verdict, British Transport Police (BTP) announced that it would be sending details of its investigation into the death to the Crown Prosecution Service.
A BTP spokesman said: "There has been an investigation under Det Insp John Murphy. It needs to be concluded, and there will be a file sent to the CPS."
The Health and Safety Executive said it was not ruling out a prosecution for breach of health and safety legislation.
The two-week hearing was told that Mr Mungovan was employed by McGinley Recruitment Services.
The company was being used by subcontractor Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance Ltd (BBRM) to maintain the line for its owner, Railtrack. McGinley paid for his and other students' training before they started work.
This consisted of 1½ days in the classroom plus half a day on rural single track at Bicester station in Oxfordshire.
On the night of his death Mr Mungovan was part of a two-man team securing a section of track for maintenance near Vauxhall station.
Mr Mungovan was walking between two live rails when he was hit by a train travelling at 50 m.p.h.
His colleague, who was in a safe area, did not have the relevant supervision skills, the court heard, and the work gang's track supervisor was with a second team near Waterloo station.
A risk assessment of the area was missing from the work order, and there was a lack of communication between Mr Mungovan and another supervisor waiting to give them clearance to work, the jury was told.
The student's family claimed in a statement that the inability to recruit permanent staff appeared to have led to a lack of "hands-on" control.