Did QPR stars kill Student?
Four young football stars could still face charges over the death of a university student pushed in front of a tube train two years ago after dramatic new scientific evidence was produced at an inquest.
The hearing into the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu, who was reading for a Masters degree in architectural design, was dramatically halted by Westminster Deputy Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe to allow the Crown Prosecution Service time to view the sensational new material.
CPS lawyers will then have to decide if their is sufficient evidence to bring charges against teenage footballers Harry Smart, Chris Arthur, Ramone Rose and Kieron St Aime, who were all members of Championship club QPR's youth team at the time of the incident in November 2006.
The four youths were all arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after Kingston University student Mr Vu's death, but no charges have ever been laid.
The inquest had heard Vietnam-born Mr Vu was killed instantly after Smart, then just 17, shoulder-barged him off a platform at Earl's Court tube station in west London moments before tumbling head-first on to the tracks himself.
Seconds earlier the four lads were seen messing around and play-fighting by other commuters on the crowded platform shortly after 4pm on November 23rd, 2006.
The potentially crucial new evidence, which is still being developed, came from the Transport Research Laboratory whose resident scientists created a virtual reality 3D reconstruction of the movements of the young footballers in the crucial moments leading up to Mr Vu's death.
The high tech reconstruction covers the vital missing seconds which happened in a "blindspot" not covered by CCTV cameras monitoring the platform.
Detectives hope it will show what caused Smart to suddenly stagger away from the rest of his pals towards Mr Vu, sending the student flying over the edge of the platform.
At the moment of impact Smart's trousers appeared on CCTV stills shown to the inquest to have been pulled halfway down.
However, his three team-mates all denied doing anything that might have made him stumble when they gave evidence at the inquest.
They also denied play-fighting on the crowded platform, although CCTV stills clearly showed at least two of them "boxing".
Smart's pals instead suggested he had fallen after "losing control of his body".
Smart, who spent 10 days in hospital after suffering a broken leg and a fractured skull when he fell on to the tracks, told the inquest jury he had no memory of the incident, even though he remained conscious throughout and spoke lucidly to medics while trapped under the train.
Suited Smart told the jury: "In all honesty I don't have any recollection of the events at all.
"The last memory I have of that week was the Sunday four days earlier and the next time I get my bearings was in hospital a week later. It's just a total blank."
However, the inquest heard that when interviewed by police weeks after the incident he gave a prepared statement claiming he could remember falling backwards off the platform and that his memory was slowly returning piece by piece, prompting the Deputy Coroner to comment: "His memory seems to have got worse since then."
Det Supt Ashley Croft, of the British Transport Police, told the court he was "suspicious" and asked to see Smart's medical records to see if there was any reason why he might have fainted.
However, Smart's lawyers refused police consent to view their clients medical files.
And a month after Mr Vu's death Smart wrote on QPR's official website: "I am absolutely fine and recovering as we speak. I've been told it will be four months until I get back on the pitch. Just for the record, the incident that occurred was purely accidental.
"We were not horseplaying or fighting. In fact we were all well away from the edge of the platform. I apparently fainted and accidentally fell on to the other man. I'm very sorry. It was a complete accident."
Det Supt Croft told the inquest: "There was no indication that he lost consciousness. Although he is saying he is suffering from memory loss, the web posting tended to contradict that."
When Dr Radcliffe was told that CPS lawyers were not yet aware of the new 3D reconstruction she adjourned the inquest and said: "I think the opportunity should be given for the CPS to view this additional evidence.
"I think there is still a chance that someone or some persons could be charged with the additional evidence available."
