SLEEPY motorist Gary Neil Hart, 37, this afternoon faces a "substantial" jail sentence for the crime that led to the deaths of the ten people who died in the Selby train crash disaster.

The 37-year-old Landrover driver hung his head, and winced, as the foreman of the jury at Leeds Crown Court said "guilty", ten times.

Each conviction of causing death by dangerous driving included the name of one of the two drivers, two other train staff, and six passengers who died at Great Heck at 6.13am on February 28.

As the foreman's soft voice continued, Hart hung his head and seemed to cry in the dock in courtroom number five.

A few people among the many victims' relatives and survivors who have attended the trial throughout, were so overcome with emotion they had to leave court.

Soft gasps greeted the first guilty verdict which came 11 minutes and 11 hours after the jury of five men and seven women left the courtroom on Tuesday.

Mr Justice Mackay told Hart that he did not need him to tell him that he would be going to prison for a "substantial period".

But he adjourned sentence until January, at the request of defence counsel Edmund Lawson, QC, so that the legal team could get medical reports from Hart's GP and psychologist.

The court heard Hart has been receiving counselling since the tragedy on February 28.

Hart was given bail and told to put his affairs in order. He must surrender his passport by 7pm today and live at an address given to the court.

The judge has received victim personal statements from six people whose lives have been affected by the Great Heck disaster.

The judge assured them he would read them closely before sentencing.

Updated: 13:45 Thursday, December 13, 2001

Background to the rail disaster