THE two men charged with manslaughter following the deaths of four rail workers in Tebay earlier this year, have appeared before the courts for the first time this week.

Mark Connolly, 47, of Coed Ana, in Anglesey, and Roy Kennett, 27, of Old Mill Road, Maidstone, appeared before a packed South Lakeland Magistrates Court, Kendal, charged with four counts of manslaughter.

Gary Tindall, 46, of Tebay; Colin Buckley, 49, and Darren Burgess, 30, both from Carnforth; and Chris Waters, 53, of Morecambe, were all killed by a runaway maintenance trolley as they worked on a section of the West Coast Mainline on the outskirts of Tebay on February 15 this year.

The case will go before Carlisle Crown Court today, Wednesday (November 10), for a preliminary hearing.

Mr Connolly faces a further charge of perverting the cause of justice between February 15 and March 1 and three further charges of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

He stands accused of neglecting the safety of workers on February 15 and intentionally or recklessly disconnecting a section of brake-pipe and removing springs from the brake units of two trailers between August 1, 2003 and February 16, 2004.

Mr Kennett stands accused of one offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by failing to carry out his responsibility of ensuring the two trailers were safe to use and by failing to take reasonable care for the safety of other people working in the vicinity.