Brother of crossing death teenager set to sue rail firm

THE ten-year-old brother of a teenager killed by a train on a level crossing is to sue Network Rail, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Connor Milloy has won legal aid to fund a civil action against the infrastructure giant after losing his brother Robert, 18, in a horrific accident early this year.

In a highly unusual legal move, the Scottish schoolboy will claim for "loss of society", arguing that the accident has deprived him of the company of his sibling as he grows up.

Robert Milloy, who was usually called Boab and has a half-brother called Bran, was killed as he walked home for lunch in the village of Gatehead, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, on 27 January.

The farm worker was hit by a train as he stepped past a partial barrier and onto the rail track, just yards from his house. He died at the scene after being thrown 60ft by the impact.

His family and their lawyers have still to decide exactly how much to seek in damages. But the families of victims of other level-crossing accidents have typically won tens of thousands of pounds in recent years after winning their cases.

His father, also Robert, a 47-year-old animal health inspector, said improving safety measures at level crossings was the central issue.

Milloy said: "If they came to me and said they were sorry, paid the cost of the funeral and put full double barriers on level crossings, then I would be happy.

"We can't bring Boab back. But the next best thing we can do is find ways of making these crossings safer. And the only way we can do that is through the courts."

The family's lawyer, Paul McHolland, from Ross Harper, said: "This was a devastating incident with tragic consequences. We are in the process of advancing a claim via the courts."

Milloy, who is divorced from Boab's mother, argues that his son would not have been able to step on to the tracks if Network Rail had installed double barriers across the whole carriageway and pavement at the Gatehead crossing.