UPDATE: Hythe 2008

A majority not guilty verdict was returned in a manslaughter case arising from a woman's death on a level crossing in 2008.

Darren Palmer had been alleged to have dragged his partner, Kelly Mack, over the Hythe MCB crossing against her will. Miss Mack caught her boot in the crossing and was subsequently struck by a train.

Both had climbed over the closed barriers at the crossing near Colchester in an attempt to reach the opposite platform for a departing service. Mr Palmer said he thought that Miss Mack was following him, but instead she had become caught up in the rails. A witness tried to pull her to safety but told how she "curled up into a ball" before being hit by the train.

Mr Palmer later commented that crossing the track when the barrier was down was "the stupidest mistake of my life".