A man implicated in a death near Prestatyn Station in North Wales has been charged with manslaughter, local police have confirmed.

The 47-year-old man in question, Patrick Kennedy, is set to appear before Llandudno Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 10 January.

Kennedy, born in 1975, is originally from Manchester, but is currently of no fixed address.

The case involves the death of Keith Ford, 40, who was found dead by the railway track near Prestatyn Station on 13 July 2022.

Police officers were called to an area of rail track near to Prestatyn Golf Course, a little outside the village centre, at 5:10pm on the day in question. Paramedics attended, but Ford was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ford’s family have requested privacy in this matter and have received contact and support from the police’s family support liaison officers.

Prestatyn is a small village off the coast of North Wales which is notable as a seaside destination. Many tourists use the local train links to travel to and from their holiday destinations.

In addition to its role as a popular station for tourism, Prestatyn also periodically gets unique heritage railway visitors – such as a very brief visit last year from The Welsh Mountaineer, which passed through Prestatyn on its way to other stations across North Wales.

The station has also been honoured as part of the Keep Wales Tidy Awards, having received the Best Kept Staffed Station award in 2017.

Prestatyn has long had issues with trespassing, though, with the station being part of Network Rail’s efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of walking on train tracks during a campaign in 2019.

Manslaughter cases surrounding public transport are unfortunately common. The case of a tram crash in 2016 that led to seven deaths did not lead to a conviction for the driver or operator involved.