After hearing evidence on the third day of the hearing at Westminster council chambers, coroner Paul Knapman adjourned the inquest at the request of the lord chancellor, Lord Irvine, pending the conclusion of a public inquiry into the accident by Lord Cullen. Under an amendment to the access to justice act passed in January and being used for the first time, the jury were dismissed without being required to reach a verdict. The purpose of the inquest was to allow the deaths of the victims to be registered. The lord chancellor is empowered to halt such an inquest at any time, but it was felt in this case that it would be useful for the families to hear details of their relatives' deaths. The legislation, specific to accidents where a public inquiry is due to be convened, was introduced to stop the duplication of evidence heard by inquests and inquiries, and to prevent subsequent delays.
Juries are compulsory in rail crash inquests.
The public inquiry into the Southall rail crash of 1997 did not begin taking evidence until two years after the accident. May. A criminal investigation by British transport police, Operation Brodie, is also continuing. Earlier the inquest heard details of the deaths of the final six victims of the crash, which happened shortly after 8.10am on October 5 when a three-carriage Thames train bound for Bedwyn, Wiltshire, from Paddington collided with a First Great Western train travelling in the opposite direction. It emerged that one of the victims may have survived the collision, and died trapped in the wreckage. She had started a new job in London just two days before the accident.