Alton Towers owner pleads guilty over ride crash

A hearing took place at a North Staffordshire justice centre this morning.

The owners of Alton Towers adventure theme park have admitted to a "criminal breach" of health and safety laws and a count of negligence. They will soon be facing a multimillion-pound fine. Two people had legs amputated after a brutal and messy collision on the Smiler rollercoaster ride in June of last year. Thankfully nobody died. The breached section (3.1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1,  states:

“It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”

The theme park operator Merlin has indicated a guilty plea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgjTxFs-2w