NETWORK Rail and Carillion Construction have been fined more than £1million following the death of a father of five from Burnley.

David Pennington, 45, of Cog Lane, was working at night on a main line in Staffordshire with another man when they were hit by a road-rail vehicle five years ago.

The workers were crushed by the speeding vehicle on an adjacent line which did not have proper lights.

In July, Stafford Crown Court heard how the driver of the maintenance vehicle had not been looking where he was going when it hit the pair.

Speaking at the sentencing, Judge Mark Eades described the deaths as ‘entirely avoidable’, saying the accident would not have happened if ‘well understood’ safety procedures had been followed by the three employees in control of the vehicle.

Outside court, Mr Pennington’s widow Carole spoke of her relief at the end of the ordeal and vowed to get on with her life.

She said: “I am just glad it’s all over and done with.

"It’s taken over five years. I thought it was never ending.

"I hope we can get on with our lives and there are no more tragedies in the family.”

Network Rail was convicted of failing to ensure the safety of non-employees after the trial in July. Carillion Construction was found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of employees.

They were fined £667,666 and £444,444 respectively, and each ordered to pay £50,000 costs.

John Brady, 44, of Birmingham and David Jones, 48, of Derby-shire, were each fined £750 after being found guilty of endang-ering the safety of rail passengers.

Jones, Brady and Wayne Brigden, 28, of Birmingham, were convicted of failing to take care of the safety of themselves and others.

The court was told how the vehicle driven by Jones on the night in September 2004 had the wrong lights on the back as it reversed and, instead of turning his cab 360 degrees, he looked over his shoulder to see where he was going.

Brady was the machine controller and in charge of the road-rail vehicle and Jones could not do anything without his permission.

Brigden was the senior supervisor employed by Carillion.

The second man who died was Mr Martin Oates, in his 40s, of Sheffield.

Judge Eades said: “This case resulted in the needless and entirely avoidable deaths of two family men. Nothing this court does will lessen the families sense of bereavement.

"There were in place well-understood safety procedures.

"If these procedures had been followed this accident would not have occurred.”