Tram workers in court accused of killing Hull dad Jack Barnes
Four tram workers have appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of Hull dad Jack Barnes. Mr Barnes, a 29-year-old father-of-one, suffered a cardiac arrest allegedly after he was restrained by the “customer service representatives”, who were monitoring the Metrolink tram system in Greater Manchester. He died in hospital on December 2 2016, less than two months after the incident
Paul Fogarty, 50; Stephen Rowlands, 67; Matthew Sellers, 29; and Brian Gartside, 59, appeared in the dock at Manchester Magistrates’ Court to each face a charge that they unlawfully killed Mr Barnes. Members of Mr Barnes’s family sat in the public gallery during the brief preliminary hearing earlier this week. Ben Southam, prosecuting, told the court the decision to prosecute the men was made following an inquest ruling in 2021.
No pleas were entered and magistrates adjourned the case until February 8 for a plea and trial preparation hearing at Manchester Crown Court. Mr Fogarty, of Monks Lane, Bolton; Mr Rowlands, of Wearish Lane, Westhoughton; Mr Sellers, of Heathfield Road, Bury, and Mr Gartside, of Danesworth Avenue, Whitworth, were all granted unconditional bail. Mr Rowlands faces an additional charge of perverting the course of justice by allegedly providing a false witness statement to Greater Manchester Police in October 2016.
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