THE moving walkway in which York academic Sally Baldwin was crushed to death had been left in "neutral" by workmen, rendering the emergency brake useless, an inquest heard.

York coroner Donald Coverdale ruled that Professor Baldwin's death was unlawful, following the conviction of two Italian maintenance workers of her manslaughter.

The University of York sociology lecturer sustained horrific injuries at Rome's second largest station, Tiburtina, on October 28, 2003.

The inquest heard that Massimo Migotto and Sergio Marfurt had removed five sections of the walkway the day before the incident. They then made a catalogue of errors, such as not cordoning off the area, which led to train passengers using the faulty walkway, causing it to start moving.

Professor Baldwin, 62, fell into the gaping hole and died immediately from multiple injuries.

The inquest heard that Migotto and Marfurt began working on moving walkway number 24 on Friday, October 24, 2003 and removed five sections three days later. They originally claimed the walkway was cordoned off and the electricity was turned off. Several witnesses contradicted that account.

They received suspended prison sentences in October last year after plea-bargaining by their lawyers.

Mr Coverdale read out a statement by lawyer Ernesto Valenti, who is representing Professor Baldwin's family in Italy. He said that the conclusion reached by the prosecutor was that: "No barriers protected the walkway at the time of the accident.

"Secondly, the workers were negligent in leaving the five sections of the walkway removed. This negligence is even greater considering that the manner in which they left the walkway allowed it to start moving if persons entered.

"In other words, they left the walkway in 'neutral'.

"Once a certain number of persons entered the walkway it picked up speed due to the weight of the same persons and the fact that the walkway was on a slope.

"This dangerous situation was aggravated by the fact that the emergency brake would not work with the walkway in neutral."

Three directors from maintenance firm OCS are being tried on manslaughter and negligence charges, which they deny.

Updated: 09:05 Saturday, May 07, 2005