Network Rail has been fined ?4m over the death of a former film actress at a level crossing.
Brenda McFarland, known as Olive, was killed in August 2011 when she was hit by a train at the Gipsy Lane crossing in Needham Market, Suffolk.
The 82-year-old appeared alongside Sean Connery in The Frightened City in 1961, and in The Sweeney and BBC dramas.
The rail firm was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court having admitted breaches in health and safety regulations.
Judge Martyn Levett said the fine would have been ?6m but for Network Rail pleading at the first opportunity.
Network Rail - which owns and manages the crossing - said individual mistakes had been made but the firm had not ignored warnings or been guilty of systemic failings.
I'm sorry she's dead, never should have happened. However network rail is owned by the taxpayer and as such the taxpayers will be paying the fine. Why are those who made the mistakes not paying it instead?
Brenda McFarland, known as Olive, was killed in August 2011 when she was hit by a train at the Gipsy Lane crossing in Needham Market, Suffolk.
The 82-year-old appeared alongside Sean Connery in The Frightened City in 1961, and in The Sweeney and BBC dramas.
The rail firm was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court having admitted breaches in health and safety regulations.
Judge Martyn Levett said the fine would have been ?6m but for Network Rail pleading at the first opportunity.
Network Rail - which owns and manages the crossing - said individual mistakes had been made but the firm had not ignored warnings or been guilty of systemic failings.
I'm sorry she's dead, never should have happened. However network rail is owned by the taxpayer and as such the taxpayers will be paying the fine. Why are those who made the mistakes not paying it instead?
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