HALIFAX, N.S. — According to a wire service, passengers injured in a massive train wreck last year confronted the boy who caused the derailment, telling him in an emotional meeting Thursday how the violent crash permanently altered their lives. A group from the Via Rail train that hurtled off the track in Stewiacke, N.S., sat down with the 15-year-old to find out why he removed a lock on a train switch and sent several cars plowing into a feed store.
“It was awkward, it was uncomfortable, but I’m glad I had the opportunity,” said Paul Poirier, who was in the train’s dining car with his wife, Jackie, when it derailed in April 2001. Twenty-three passengers and crew were injured and some were left with permanent disabilities.
“He expressed his regret and remorse.”
The passengers, support workers, Via employees and the teen got together for an intense four-hour meeting as part of the province’s restorative justice program. It allows victims to confront young offenders convicted of various crimes to determine a form of punishment.
The boy, a skinny teen with a severe learning disability, pleaded guilty earlier this year to mischief endangering life in relation to the wreck that devastated the small farming community outside Halifax. He was also charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, but that charge was dropped.
Passengers who attended the private meeting said it gave them some answers and let the young boy, who was 13 at the time of the incident, know how the accident affected them.
“I wanted to know what he was thinking and why did he want that lock,” said Jackie Poirier, who was seriously injured when the train lurched off the track, hit the building, then tipped on its side.
“In my heart, I didn’t feel a 13-year-old boy could have malicious intent and I feel a bit more encouraged that the intent wasn’t there to hurt somebody.”
The teen, who can’t be identified and wasn’t available for comment, told the group he was building a fort with his brother in woods near the track and wanted the lock from a trackside switch that controls a train’s direction.
He broke off the lock, then heard the bell of the train as it steamed down the track. The boy frantically tried to replace the lock, but when he couldn’t, he fled and left a panicked phone message with his father in British Columbia, telling him what he did and pleading with him to call.
In the meeting, he struggled to read a statement he wrote to the passengers and often became emotional. Several passengers described the boy as withdrawn, quiet and limited by his learning disability, adding he had trouble understanding some of their questions.
“He’s had to listen to our stories and I think he knows the consequences of a silly act,” said Fred Coyle, who was injured on the train, which was bound for Montreal from Halifax.
“He’s been able to apologize.”
The program, which was implemented in 1999 and has been used in about 2,500 cases, will allow the group to recommend restitution, community service or a term of incarceration of up to three years, among other things. A judge will review the recommendation and decide the final punishment.
This is one of the more serious and unusual cases to go through the process since it involves so many people and caused so much damage, said Bob Hagell, the Crown lawyer in the case.
He said it was an appropriate way to deal with the young boy, who claimed he had no intention of hurting anyone or derailing the 14-car train.
“There is a movement back to having more involvement of the community, the victims and the accused,” he said. “It’s a much more direct exchange of information between the sides and informs them of the impact of their crime.”
Coyle, who has launched a lawsuit over the derailment, said the crash initially left him with a fear of travelling, but he has been working through it.
The Transportation Safety Board is preparing a report on the crash, but has said the switch and lock were broken moments before the train approached the mechanism.