The Tokyo District Court sentenced a Tobu Railway Co. railway-crossing attendant to 18 months in prison Friday for negligence resulting in the deaths of two women and injuries to two others in March, when he opened a grade crossing gate as a train approached.
The defense counsel had sought a suspended prison term for Kanji Komatsu, 53, while prosecutors had demanded 30 months.
"The defendant casually assumed there were no approaching trains. His attitude of treating safety lightly deserves strong condemnation and he bears a heavy responsibility for failing to visually ascertain no train was coming," presiding Judge Takeshi Irie said.
On March 15, Komatsu overrode the automatic system to open the gate at Takenozuka Station on the Tobu Isesaki Line in Tokyo's Adachi Ward at around 4:50 p.m. as an express train approached, the court said.
Four women began crossing and were hit by the train. Toshie Takahashi, 75, and Kihei Miyazaki, 38, died and the two others were seriously injured.
Komatsu's defense counsel said Tobu Railway forced its employees at the crossing to open the gate manually as it was often down for long periods, especially during rush hour when more trains passed, and charged the railway failed to address the issue appropriately.
Komatsu was fired by Tobu in July.
At a news conference following the ruling, relatives of the victims expressed dissatisfaction, saying the 18-month prison term was "too short" for the defendant.
Mamoru Takahashi, 43, a son of Toshie Takahashi said only one word, "Short."
Takahashi's daughter, Keiko Kayama, 50, criticized the ruling for not criticizing the safety policies of Tobu Railway.
"I am disappointed with the ruling because it failed to recognize the responsibility of Tobu," Kayama said.
Zentoku Miyazaki, 50, husband of Kihei Miyazaki, said, "I will accept the ruling but the accident itself will never be erased from my memory."
