Brothers face train charges

Two brothers and a youth appeared in court charged with endangering the life of a freight train driver seriously hurt by masonry thrown through his cab.

Martin Clee, aged 21, and his brother Kevin, 18, both of Radford Avenue, Kidderminster, appeared at the town's magistrates court yesterday alongside a 16-year-old boy who cannot be identified.

Magistrates ordered the trio to appear before Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday. All three were granted conditional bail. They are charged with two counts of causing damage to a train and being reckless as to whether the life of another would be endangered. The second count relates to the same masonry hitting a Central Train on the same night of December 17 last year.

The court heard the charges concerned an incident involving an English Welsh and Scottish locomotive, which was pulling 1,770 tons of steel through Kidderminster to Brierley Hill from South Wales on December 17 last year. Masonry weighing 45lb was thrown from a bridge in Kidderminster while the train was travelling at 50mph. Driver Joseph Paxton was knocked unconscious. He managed to call for help after recovering consciousness but was left with a broken jaw and multiple facial fractures.