A commuter who is seeking up to £25m in compensation after falling under a Tube train contributed to her own injuries, according to Transport for London.
Sarah de Lagarde, 46, a mother of two from Camden, suffered partial amputations of her right arm and right leg after she was run over by two Northern line trains at High Barnet station in September 2022.
A High Court case alleging that TfL breached its duty of care, and in which she is seeking compensation for life-changing injuries and ongoing financial loss, began last week. A trial is due to open in January 2027.
Defence documents submitted to the High Court by TfL’s legal team, seen by The Standard, claim that “the incident was caused or contributed to by the claimant’s negligence”.
TfL claims that Ms de Lagarde was “negligent” in the way she exited the train and “placed herself in a position of danger”.
The TfL defence lists six grounds of alleged contributory negligence, namely that Ms de Lagarde:
- Failed to manage her exit from the train so that she was on stable footing when she was on the platform.
- Failed to walk safely along the platform so that she stepped sideways and backwards on the platform after alighting the train and fell backwards into the gap.
- Failed reasonably to maintain her balance.
- Failed to have sufficient regard for her own safety and placed herself in a position of danger.
- Failed to heed warnings of the existence of the gap, including announcements given on the network of the existence of a gap between trains and platforms.
- Failed to guard against the obvious risk of danger of falling off the platform if positioned close to its edge.
TfL’s approach is understood to have caused dismay and anger among her legal team, amid concern that it appears to ignore the wishes of London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan that TfL should avoid “victim blaming” in cases where people are seriously injured or killed on the capital’s public transport network.
Ms de Lagarde’s claim document and TfL’s defence document also reveal previously unknown details about the near-fatal incident, which happened at about 10pm on September 30, 2022.
Ms De Lagarde, global head of corporate affairs at City investment firm Janus Henderson, had been returning home from work and boarded a Northern line train at Moorgate at 9.17pm.
She had intended to get off at Camden Town station but fell asleep and ended up at High Barnet station, at the end of the line, at 9.53pm.
After being wakened by a fellow passenger at 9.54pm, she exited the train via a single door at the end of the fifth carriage, seven or eight seconds later.
According to the TfL defence: “The claimant took a few steps forward on to the platform and then took a few steps backwards, before the rear of her body struck the rear side of the door of the train she had exited from.
“The claimant continued to move backwards and, approximately seven seconds after exiting the train, she fell into the gap between carriages five and six of the train.”
Ms de Lagarde, speaking outside court last week, claimed she had been falsely described by TfL as “drunk woman” who was to blame for her own injuries.
Neither the Tube driver nor any passengers or station staff saw or heard Ms de Lagarde fall. She shouted for help but her cries went unheard.
About five minutes later, after a toilet break, the driver walked back through the train to get to the driver’s cab at the other end of the train, to start his return journey southbound.
He noticed a brown leather shoulder bag lying wedged between the train and the platform. He picked it up – and later handed it in to the lost property office at Morden - but did not think to investigate further. It belonged to Ms de Lagarde. She had dropped it when she fell.
Ms de Lagarde’s claim described the bag as a “conspicuous piece of evidence”.
TfL’s defence said the driver “did not see or hear the claimant at that point and did not look into the gap, having no reason to do so”.
The train set off at about 10pm, running over Ms de Lagarde’s right arm.
About five minutes later, a second Northern line train arrived at platform three, crushing Ms de Lagarde’s right leg under its wheels.
TfL said the driver of the second train did not see Ms de Lagarde lying on the track, despite her having blonde hair and wearing a bright pink coat and, in the words of her claim, “being there to be seen”.
The Tube’s headlights were on but TfL said their purpose was “not to illuminate the tracks or the platform” but to make the train visible to track workers.
Ms de Lagarde was not spotted until 10.07pm when a driver or a train on platform two heard her shouts and summoned emergency help.
She was rescued by the London Fire Brigade and London’s Air Ambulance medics, who crawled under the train to reach her.
The three air ambulance medics who helped to save her life - Dr Benjamin Marriage and paramedics Chris Doyle and Kevin Cuddon - received a national bravery award.
— Thomas Jervis (@ThomasJervis1) September 25, 2023
Mr Cuddon said: "Sarah was trapped in a very awkward position so I crawled under the train to help the London Fire Brigade get her out. We had to carry her about 30m under the train and put her on a device to lift her up to the platform.
“Her right foot had been amputated at the ankle and her right arm was separated from the shoulder. She was really quiet, pale and had lost a lot of blood.”
When Ms de Lagarde had arrived at High Barnet, it was dark and had been raining, leaving the platform wet underfoot. She had stepped onto the slope of a ramp that rises towards an “accessibility hump”, designed to make it easier for wheelchair users to board trains.
TfL’s investigation into the incident found that having passengers alighting “onto the base of the platform ramp is considered a sub-optimal arrangement” but was nevertheless “in principle compliant” with TfL’s standards.
TfL said there was no requirement for station staff to continuously monitor live CCTV footage of any part of the station, including the “platform train interface” – namely, the gap between the train and the platform.
Ms de Lagarde’s claim said she “remained conscious and continued to cry out for help”.
Her claim said: “She was left lying partially across the first rail of the track, closest to the station platform.
“The claimant attempted to manoeuvre her right foot and leg across the first rail in order to retrieve her mobile telephone. She cried out for help but nobody came to her assistance.
“The claimant was there to be seen, lying partially across the first rail of the tracks. She had blonde hair and was wearing a bright fuchsia-pink, full-length overcoat. Her mobile telephone had a large neon orange lanyard.”
She said she was unable to crawl into a recess space in the platform wall because it was blocked by a steel frame and “excess ballast”.
TfL disputes the suggestion from Ms de Lagarde’s legal team that different passenger safety procedures are followed when a train departs from a terminus station, as opposed to a station elsewhere on the line.
TfL said “the same checks are required on despatching a train from a terminus station and a non-terminus station”.
Ms de Lagarde was taken to the Royal London Hospital where she underwent surgery. She was transferred to the Amputee Rehabilitation Unit in Lambeth on October 20. She was discharged home on December 1, 2022.
Plans were made for Ms de Lagarde to receive ongoing care at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.
Ms de Lagarde’s claim states: “The breaches of duty caused the claimant to suffer life-changing injuries.”
Exclusive: 78 TfL 'fat cats' pocket more than Prime Minister as number on £100,000+ soars
Mother who lost arm and leg in horror Tube fall launches £25m High Court claim against TfL
500 Tube passengers a year injured falling down gap with platform or getting trapped in train doors
Tube fall and bus crash survivors accuse TfL of failing passengers as 40 a month injured in London
London mother Sarah de Lagarde who lost arm and leg in horror Tube accident climbs Kilimanjaro
