THE strength of the human spirit is sometimes amazing. It would have been easier - and certainly understandable - for the relatives of the victims of the Selby rail disaster to go to pieces yesterday when Gary Hart was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

But many of them found the strength to talk about the verdict and their feelings.

Judith Cairncross of Whitley Bay lost her brother Raymond Robson and said: "He was the life and soul of the party but we cannot dwell too much on the past. We are not going to cry into our handkerchiefs, we are going to remember Raymond.'' An admirable reaction. Our hearts go out to Judith and all the other relatives who are struggling to find the strength to come to terms with what happened.

Lee Taylor, widow of GNER chef Paul Taylor from Longbenton, found the strength superbly to sum up the court case. She said: "To be quite honest, if he (Hart) had put his hands up and said sorry, I might have felt different, but he kept telling lies.

"I know he did not intend what happened, but I cannot forgive him for not admitting it."

Although he killed ten people, Hart is a very different criminal to Ray Whiting, who killed one - poor Sarah Payne. Whiting is evil and malicious; Hart was stupid, foolish, reckless, careless, heedless - but neither evil nor malicious. If, as Loughborough University's research suggests, 25 per cent of motorway accidents are due to sleep deprivation, he is not even that unusual - although his personal circumstances were.

However, essentially the Selby disaster was caused by an accident, by a combination of flukes: an idiotic driver who fell asleep at precisely the wrong place and the wrong time. The accidental nature of the disaster, as well as the idiotic nature of the driver, should be borne in mind when Hart is sentenced.

But accidents do happen. And accidents can often be prevented. Hart's sentence, therefore, should also serve as a deterrent to those who take similar risks with their driving.

But the authorities must also play their part. All 33 road bridges over the East Coast Main Line in the North-East need some form of repair. Everyone is agreed on this - but no one can agree on who will foot the bill.

So the work doesn't get done. Heaven forbid that the circumstances of Selby should ever combine to cause another disaster - but if they should, those who bickered when they should have been repairing, and those above them who allowed the bickering to carry on, will be just as culpable as an idiotic driver.