A TEEN suffered horrific burns when he was electrocuted after being forced to jump from the roof of Waverley train station in Edinburgh to escape a gang attack.
Scott Christie was left with second degree burns to 35 per cent of his body when he fell on powerful 25,000 volt electrical overhead lines before crashing onto rail tracks below.
Scott Christie was forced to jump from the roof of Waverley train station[/caption]
Scott, 18, also suffered a serious head injury, a large gouge out of his thigh and bruising to his lungs when he fell 30 feet from the roof of the station in May 2023.
One witness who rushed to his aid said he could “smell the burnt flesh for three days afterwards” while a police officer who attend the scene said Scott’s injuries were the worse she had ever seen.
Scott spent two months recovering in hospital from following the horror fall, has been left permanently scarred and now suffers from PTSD and nightmares.
The teenager told a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he was forced to seek refuge on the station roof in a bid to escape a gang of youths who had chased him following an argument.
The gang included louts Leo Brown, 22, and Taylor Welsh, 20, who admitted pursuing Scott onto the roof but denied they had forced him to land on the tracks below.
But following a four day trial last week a jury found the pair guilty of conducting themselves in a disorderly manner and pursuing Scott and causing him to jump or fall onto overhead electrical wires and a train track, all to his permanent impairment, disfigurement and danger to his life.
Scott told the trial he had been drinking with the group of youths at Princes Street Gardens before one boy took offence at a comment he made and he decided to head home.
Scott said the gang followed him and he admitted striking one boy in self-defence before fleeing along Princes Street towards the train station as he felt “threatened”.
He told the court he had little recollection of being on the roof and how he ended up being electrocuted after falling onto the power lines at around 11pm on May 8, 2023.
Witness Mark Smellie said he was on a train waiting to go home when he “saw a flash and heard a huge bang” that cut all the power at the station’s platform 9.
The theatre manager said he got off the train and heard a moaning coming from the tracks and spotted the seriously injured teenager attempting to climb onto the platform.
Mr Smellie, 54, helped the teen up and administered first aid until the emergency services arrived.
He told the court the boy was “spitting up blood and his clothes were all burned” and he could see “a large chunk of his leg was missing”.
Mr Smellie said: “It was horrific. I could smell the burnt flesh for three days afterwards.”
Police officer Chloe Henry, 30, also said she could smell “burning flesh” coming from the injured boy.
The officer added: “I was quite taken aback, it was probably the worst [injuries] I’ve ever seen.”
The court was shown CCTV of Scott being chased along Princes Street by the group before he is seen climbing onto the roof and being followed by Brown and Welsh.
The pair decided not to give evidence but admitted they had pursued Scott onto the roof of the station during their police interviews that were played to the jury.
They both said Scott jumped onto the tracks below but denied causing him to do it.
Following four days of evidence the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on both accused on Friday afternoon.
Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss said: “You have ended up being convicted of a charge which is serious and had devastating consequences for Scott Christie.
“Before I decide on an appropriate sentence in this case I am going to call for a justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment.”
Brown and Welsh, both from Edinburgh, were granted bail and sentence was deferred to next month.
