A Merseyrail train driver who was found to be using WhatsApp before the Kirkby train crash has been sentenced.

Phillip Holis from Liverpool pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of passengers last month and today, 8th March, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 2 years.

Phillip Hollis, 56, was found to be sending the WhatsApp message 26 seconds before the crash, with his train approaching the buffer stops at 40mph.

The speed limit on approach to Kirkby station is 15 mph, and even with an emergency brake application, the train hit the buffers, causing the train to derail. The damage to the station has been estimated at around £450,000.

Twelve passengers and a guard were onboard and thankfully only suffered minor injuries.

Phillip originally told Police that his bag had fallen off a cupboard in the cab of the train and said he had stood up to retrieve it along with a Lucozade bottle before he sat down to see the buffers approaching.

However, when his phone was seized and examined, it was found that a WhatsApp message was sent at 6:51.34pm, 26 seconds before the crash.

Merseyrail has already dismissed Phillip as a result of the incident.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve May said: “This was a complex investigation but we could be confident from our analysis that Hollis was using his phone in the seconds before crashing the train into Kirby station at high speed.

“I have no doubt this will have caused him to become distracted while driving, endangering the safety of the passengers and staff on board. It was only through sheer luck that they weren’t seriously injured or worse, killed, as a result of this incredibly dangerous incident.”