Alton Towers owner due in court over Smiler horror crash

Merlin, the operator of the Alton Towers theme park will be back in court on Monday over the Smiler rollercoaster crash which left two teenagers needing leg amputations, and several other victims with serious injuries.

Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd has been told it should expect a "very large fine" for health and safety breaches which led to a carriage on the £18 million ride smashing into an empty car on the rollercoaster.

Some of those left trapped on the ride after the crash in June last year are expected to attend the two-day sentencing hearing at Stafford Crown Court.

A court hearing earlier this year was told Merlin had conducted an internal investigation after the accident, which found that a worker had manually overridden the ride's computer system.

Indicating a guilty plea to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, Merlin's lawyer told the previous hearing that the company accepted additional measures could have been taken to prevent safety risks.

Lawyers for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have said the £18 million Smiler, which opened in 2013, never had a "proper settled system" for staff to follow once a carriage had stopped on the track.