At around 17:50 hrs on Monday 20 March, six loaded wagons of an eastbound freight train became derailed as the train passed over East Somerset Junction, between Castle Cary and Frome, while travelling at about 20 mph (32 km/h). The train, the 17:05 hrs service from Merehead to Acton yard, was joining the up Westbury line from the Merehead single branch line.

There were no injuries. The accident resulted in substantial damage to the railway infrastructure; around 100 metres of track including two sets of switches and crossings were destroyed. Train services between London Paddington and the West Country were diverted via Swindon while the wagons were recovered and track repairs took place over the following four days.

The freight train consisted of a class 59 diesel-electric locomotive hauling 38 loaded wagons of types JNA, JHA, HOA and IIA. It was carrying stone from the Merehead quarries for use in the construction industry. The wagons that derailed were the 24th to 29th from the front of the train. The train split between the 21st and 22nd wagons when the derailment occurred, and the train was stopped by the automatic application of the brakes.

The leading wagon which derailed was of the HOA type. The derailment occurred close to where a set of trailing points had been removed and replaced by plain line in 2012.

Our investigation will identify the sequence of events that led to the accident, and how the wagons derailed. It will also include consideration of:

• the condition of the track, its geometry and how it was maintained
• how the wagons were loaded
• the condition of the wagons
• any relevant underlying management factors

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry, the British Transport Police or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website.

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On Tuesday 28 March, following a two-day trial, magistrates found company director, Mark Paul Stone, and his company, Salhouse Norwich Ltd, guilty of allowing an illegal waste site to operate from a site it owned.

A third defendant, Mark Ian Quinsey, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to running the illegal operation, failing to clear the site when told to by the Environment Agency, and illegally exporting waste. Yesterday he was sentenced to 20 weeks custody which has been suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Norwich Magistrates’ Court heard that hundreds of tonnes of waste mattresses and mattress textiles were found stored on the site – almost 100 times as many as a registered exemption for the operation allowed.

Stone denied knowing that the waste site, off Rice Way on Salhouse Industrial Estate, run by their tenant, Quinsey, was illegal.

Quinsey, 39, trading as Salhouse Recyclers, had registered exemptions for an operation far smaller than the one he ran and should have applied for a permit.

Nicholas Ostrowski, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency (EA), told the court that he had deliberately breached environmental regulations and despite being served an enforcement notice to clear the site, had failed to do so.

Mr Ostrowski said when EA investigators visited the site in August 2015 following a report from a member of the public, they found the site so jammed full of badly stored mattresses and mattress textiles, there was a serious risk to the environment. The fire service was also concerned about the risk of fire.

It was heard that during investigations Quinsey sent paperwork to the EA, which included evidence of a shipment of 27 compressed bales of waste to Egypt for recycling in March the previous year. However Quinsey did not have the appropriate approvals in place for this export.

The court was told that an enforcement notice served on Quinsey in August was only partly complied with when some waste metals were removed.

The EA also approached Salhouse Norwich Ltd and Stone, who were advised to clear the site and an action plan for the removal of the waste was requested but the waste still remains on site.

The magistrates were told the EA made five requests for a voluntary action plan from the company.

Quinsey of The Lane, Briston, Norfolk, told investigators he had found a company in Egypt which would take the fabric for recycling but then there was a problem with Egyptian customs so he had to store the material until he found another outlet, which he was unable to find.

He didn’t contact the EA as he was worried his business would be closed down and had hoped to resolve the situation himself.

Quinsey admitted that the site had no environmental management system, no fire suppression system, no fire detection system, no dust suppression system, no litter prevention infrastructure nor sealed drainage system. He also admitted having no insurance for his activities and no official lease on one of the buildings he used.

He said the business had left him in debt, claiming that it grew too quickly. He admitted he probably hadn’t done enough research.

Stone, 69, from Marleybone High Street, London, told investigators that Quinsey had said he had relevant permissions to carry out the waste operation. No checks were made to ensure these permissions were in place.

He said his company had concerns about the fire risk and were “horrified” by all the waste on site but were worried if they asked Quinsey to stop operating, he would leave them with a factory full of waste. He also admitted being aware that the operation was out of hand and perhaps should never have started.

An analytical chemist for the EA concluded that any plume from a fire at the site could contain toxic and harmful substances which could affect human health.

Mr Ostrowski said Quinsey, Stone and Salhouse Norwich Ltd had co-operated with the investigation and Quinsey had removed some waste from the site.

Quinsey pleaded guilty to operating a waste facility without a permit, failing to comply with an enforcement notice and exporting waste to Egypt without the appropriate permissions in place. He was sentenced to a total of 20 weeks custody which has been suspended for 18 months, 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay a contribution to costs of £720. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115.

Following trial Stone and Salhouse Norwich Ltd were found guilty of knowingly permitting the operation of a waste facility without a permit. Stone and Salhouse Norwich Ltd will be sentenced on 5 May following a pre-sentence report.

After the hearing Environment Agency investigator Lorraine Machin said:

We acted quickly to try to get the occupier and landowner to clear the site because of the environmental and fire risk but the majority of the waste still remained on site.

This case shows how important it is to ensure that any new operation has been fully researched, properly permitted and any site used is adequate for the operation.

Mark Ian Quinsey pleaded guilty to:

1. Between 16 August 2015 and 28 October 2015 at land off Rice Way, Salhouse Industrial Estate, Norwich NR7 9AP, you did operate a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the treatment and storage of waste, without being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 13 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Contrary to Regulation 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010

1. You failed, without reasonable excuse, by 8 January 2016, to comply with all the requirements in a notice dated 24 August 2015 and served on 24 August 2015 pursuant to section 59 (1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to remove controlled waste from land occupied by you at the date of service of the said notice known as land off Rice Way, Salhouse Industrial Estate, Norwich NR7 9AP in the county of Norfolk.

Contrary to section 59 (5) Environmental Protection Act 1990

1. On 7 March 2014 and by virtue of Article 37 of the European Waste Shipment Regulation EC 1013/2006, you transported waste namely waste textiles to Egypt, a country to which the OECD decision does not apply as listed in the Annex to EC Commission Regulation 1418/2007

Contrary to Regulation 23A(2) and 58 of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007

Mark Paul Stone was found guilty of:

Between 24 August 2015 and 8 June 2016 on land off Rice Way, Salhouse Industrial Estate, Norwich NR7 9AP, Salhouse Norwich Limited did, with your consent or connivance or attributable to neglect on your part as a director of Salhouse Norwich Limited, knowingly permitted the operation of a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the storage of waste, without being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 13 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010

Contrary to Regulation 12(1)(a), 38(1)(b) and 41(1)(a) and (b) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010

Salhouse Norwich Ltd was found guilty of:

Between 24 August 2015 and 8 June 2016 at land off Rice Way, Salhouse Industrial Estate, Norwich NR7 9AP, you did knowingly permit the operation of a regulated facility, namely a waste operation for the storage of waste, without it being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 13 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Contrary to Regulation 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010

The 2016 UK Radioactive Wastes and Materials Inventory (the Inventory) is updated every 3 years to provide the latest national record on radioactive wastes and materials in the UK.

Tackling the terror threat and developing new capabilities to strike at the heart of Daesh are the centrepiece of a new joint initiative between the UK and Jordan, the Prime Minister will announce today.

On her first visit to Jordan as Prime Minister, she will also confirm a plan to improve cooperation on countering violent extremism in the region.

She is expected to say that the tragic attack in Westminster showed only too starkly that terrorism is an evil facing us all and we must come together to fight it.

She will also discuss how we can build on our cooperation with Jordan to manage the fallout from the Syrian conflict.

She is expected to reiterate our commitment to providing humanitarian support to Jordan to bolster its capacity to handle the huge volumes of refugees it hosts, enabling the refugees to stay close to their homes and create meaningful long-term futures for themselves.

At the start of a joint visit to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister will first visit Amman today (Monday 3 April), where she is expected to agree new support for the Royal Jordanian Air Force to improve their capability to strike Daesh targets and defeat the terrorist threat.

She will then visit Saudi Arabia tomorrow (Tuesday 4 April) and Wednesday, where she will make clear that they are a close and important ally and that we will continue to work closely in a range of areas, particularly on counter-terrorism where UK-Saudi cooperation is vital.

On trade, the Prime Minister is expected to explore ways of boosting our already very strong ties. Saudi Arabia is currently the UK’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, with exports of British goods standing at £4.67 billion and services at £1.9 billion in 2015.

Speaking ahead of the visit, the Prime Minister said:

As the United Kingdom leaves the EU, we are determined to forge a bold, confident future for ourselves in the world. We must look at the challenges that we, and future generations, will face and build stronger partnerships with countries that will be vital to both our security and our prosperity.

It is clearly in the UK’s security and prosperity interests to support Jordan and Saudi Arabia in tackling regional challenges to create a more stable region, and in delivering their ambitious reform programmes to ensure their own stability. An even deeper partnership with these countries, and greater knowledge and understanding of one another, will increase our ability to address the issues that concern us, including the promotion of international standards and norms.

To tackle the threats we face from terrorism and from geopolitical instability, we must meet them at their source. Jordan is on the frontline of multiple regional crises and I’m clear that by working with them, we are helping keep British people safe.

Likewise in Saudi Arabia: we must never forget that intelligence we have received in the past from that country has saved potentially hundreds of lives in the UK. And there is so much we can do together on trade, with immense potential for Saudi investment to provide a boost to the British economy.

So I hope my visit will herald a further intensification in relations between our countries and deepen true strategic partnerships, enabling us to seize the opportunities ahead and ensure the security and prosperity of our people for decades to come.

Further information

The Prime Minister visited Jordan in 2012 in her capacity as Home Secretary. She also visited Saudi Arabia in March 2014.

The new support for the Royal Jordanian Air Force will include:

• deploying training teams to help the Jordanians better integrate their Air and Land assets on operations
• providing training in the UK and in Jordan for Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, who are the service personnel who direct combat action of aircraft in offensive operations
• increasing the number of places available to RJAF personnel on UK courses in niche areas such as Air Battle Management and Electronic Warfare
• supporting aviation safety, including through training in both the UK and Jordan

The UK will also commit to partnering with Jordan in the development and implementation of strategies to counter violent extremism, including active consultation with civil society and affected communities, particularly focussing on youth groups.

• New offence of sexual communication with a child introduced today (3 April 2017)
• Groomers face up to two years in prison and will be automatically placed on the sex offenders register
• NSPCC commends Justice Secretary for doing “the right thing”

Groomers who target children through mobile phones and social media now face 2 years in prison, after a new government law came into force today.

Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss has acted decisively to bring in a new offence of sexual communication with a child to cover a gap in existing legislation and ensure children are protected. Those found guilty also face being automatically placed on the sex offenders register.

The new offence will allow authorities, including the police and Crown Prosecution Service, to intervene earlier and stamp out abhorrent grooming before sexual activity can occur.

Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:

In a world of mobile phones and social media, our children are ever more vulnerable to those who prey on their innocence and exploit their trust.

The best way of protecting our young people from the evils of child abuse is to stop it happening in the first place.

This new offence will give courts the powers to jail anyone who sends a sexual communication to a child – and stop the process of grooming before it starts.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said:

The Justice Secretary has done the right thing. This is a victory for the 50,000 people who supported the NSPCC’s Flaw in the Law campaign. It is a victory for common sense. Children should be as safe online as they are offline, wherever they are in the UK.

This law will give police in England and Wales the powers they need to protect children from online grooming, and to intervene sooner to stop abuse before it starts.

Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove said:

We need to make sure we are doing everything possible to protect children from online grooming and predators.

The new law to prevent sexual communication with a child will help keep children safe in a digital world and prevent future victims.

The new offence came into effect today (3 April 2017), and covers both online and offline communication, including through social media, e-mail, and letters.

There are a range of offences already available to deal with sexual communication, depending on the circumstances, but many do not automatically attract sex offender registration.

The Justice Secretary made enacting this clause a priority, and has acted decisively to ensure children are protected both online and offline.

Notes to editors

1. On 3 April 2017 we brought into force section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.
2. It is now a criminal offence for anyone aged 18 or over to intentionally communicate with a child under 16, where the person acts for a sexual purpose and the communication is sexual or intended to elicit a sexual response. The offence applies to online and offline communication, including social media, e-mail, texts, letters, etc.
3. For more information, call the MOJ press office on 0203 334 3536.