Merlin Entertainments faces 'very large fine' for Alton Towers Smiler crash

Appearing at a North Staffordshire Justice Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Friday, Merlin Entertainments pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety rules, in a case brought by the Health & Safety Executive.

Asked by the court to enter a plea to the charge, Simon Antrobus, the barrister appearing for the firm, said: “I’m duly authorised by Merlin Attractions Limited to enter a guilty plea to the charge,” according to a report from the Guardian.

District judge John McGarva said Merlin would face a “very large fine” when it next appears at Stafford crown court on 20 May, with some estimating the figure could reach seven figures.

In November Merlin, which is the second largest theme park operator in the world by number of annual visitors and the largest by number of attractions, had said its internal investigation found the crash was down to human error because staff misunderstood a shutdown message and instead wrongly restarted the ride.

Passengers Leah Washington and Vicky Balch both suffered leg amputations and three other passengers suffered life-changing injuries when the ride collided with a stationary carriage on the same track on 2 June.

The ride has since reopened in 2016, following the implementation of several new safety measures such as additional CCTV and enhanced staff training.

Annual results in February showed profits were virtually flat for Merlin in 2015 despite a slowdown at its theme parks division following the crash.

A note from broker Panmure Gordon on Friday suggested profit recovery post-Smiler "could come faster than the market anticipates and margin expansion could exceed the 225bps improvement we have factored in over the next three years".