A JURY at an inquest into the Selby rail disaster has concluded that all ten victims were unlawfully killed.

After deliberating for two-and-a-half-hours yesterday, the foreman read each verdict one at a time to a hushed room at Harrogate's Majestic Hotel after a week-long hearing which examined harrowing evidence from the tragedy.

Afterwards, relatives of some of the victims described a sense of closure now that legal proceedings surrounding the crash are complete.

None who spoke at the end of the hearing were in any doubt that they held Gary Hart responsible for the deaths of their loved ones, despite his consistent denials that he fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover, which came off the road and ended up on the East Coast Main Line early on the morning of February 28, 2001.

The GNER 4.45am express from Newcastle to London collided with Hart's vehicle, which was towing a trailer loaded with a car. The train was derailed and ran into the path of a freight train.

GNER driver John Weddle, 48, of Newcastle, Freightliner driver Steve Dunn, 43, of Brayton, near Selby, GNER customer operations leader Raymond Robson, 43, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, GNER chef Paul Taylor, 43, of Newcastle, all died in the crash.

Steve Baldwin, 44, Clive Vidgin, 39, Alan Ensor, 44, Barry Needham, 40, Christopher Terry, 30, all from the York area, and Robert Shakespeare, 43, of Beverley, West Yorkshire, also died.

Hart was prosecuted and convicted at Leeds Crown Court in December 2001 on ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was jailed for five years.

Although North Yorkshire deputy coroner David Hinchliff emphasised the hearing had not been arranged to apportion blame, yesterday it confirmed there were no other factors which led to the crash, other than Hart's inattention.

Steve Dunn's widow, Mary, said: "Being bitter is not going to help any of us and I am not going to worry about what is happening in someone else's life.

"Gary Hart has been through the due process of the law and I have ultimate faith in our legal system.

"I feel we can look forward to a sense of closure now the inquest is over."