Has safety gone down the Tube?: Passengers need more protection from accidents and crime, a bereaved mother tells Esther Oxford

One minute he was laughing, seven pints of cider swimming round inside his system. The next he was being dragged along a platform by a Tube train, locked into the coupling mechanism between two carriages. Frantic attempts by passengers to alert the driver failed.

Jason Woodley, 24, of Hampstead, died at Leicester Square station on the Piccadilly line a year ago today. Yesterday his mother, Jenny, presented a petition signed by 7,000 people to Steven Norris, the Transport Minister for London, demanding safety improvements on the Tube. She believes her son would still be alive if London Underground took more care of its passengers.

She cites the series of events immediately after Jason fell on to the track. Three passengers pulled alarm bells. Others screamed for the guard - but there was no guard. Jason's body came to rest 36 feet along the platform, his skull, ribs, spine and arms broken. The train did not stop until the next station, Covent Garden.

Jenny Woodley, an accountant, said she will never ride on the Tube again. Jason was her only child. 'I want to know what happened to my son, she told passers-by as she demonstrated outside Leicester Square station. 'It is now a year since Jason died and I want a public inquiry.

Jason was the 14th person to die in a 'reckless Tube accident in four years. Mrs Woodley has used his death to campaign for better safety and tighter policing on the Underground. She attributes her son's death to the absence of guards. A guard could have stopped the train in time, she said.

Mrs Woodley said a London Transport report last month on the tragedy was a whitewash. She claims it put too much emphasis on her son being drunk. 'They are trying to create the impression that this was the reason for his death. The fact is that he was still alive when the driver decided to move off.

At the inquest the coroner, Dr Douglas Chambers, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, said he hoped London Underground 'would take steps to ensure that an accident like this did not happen. But Mrs Woodley said they haven't. 'They've just stuck to recommendations.

Mr Norris did not receive Mrs Woodley's petition in person. But she got her point across. 'I want alarms to be fitted to the outside of all trains, better lighting, closed circuit television and help-points on platforms,' she said. 'I want guards on all trains, or in their absence, guards on platforms.'

London Underground has made some effort: it has agreed to review safety procedures when train alarms are sounded and has pledged to install barriers at the platform edge in new stations. But there are no plans to reintroduce guards.

Guards are not the answer, said Steven Milton, spokesman for London Underground. 'We have installed 'talk-back' alarms to take the place of guards. The passengers can actually talk to the driver from any part of the train. It is safer. In many stations the platform is curved. It is impossible for the guard to see the full length of the train. Now drivers use a sophisticated mirror system to see round the bends. The function of the guard has been taken over by technology.

Mr Milton admitted passengers feel safer if there are guards and staff on the platform. He suggested that those who feel vulnerable should sit in the front carriage, 'six inches from the driver, where they can knock if feeling threatened.

Andy Burns of the Capital Transport Campaign, said that the list of deaths and injuries since 1990 is worrying enough to warrant a review on the policy of phasing out guards.

On top of the 14 'reckless' deaths there were two 'accidental' fatalities and two crime-related deaths. There were also 173 'major' injuries where the victim had to be hospitalised.

In the majority of cases, having a guard on board would have deterred, prevented or interrupted the incident, said Mr Burns. 'Had there been staff there, Mr Woodley's death might have been avoided. He said the solution is not to hand responsibility for the safety of the passengers over to the driver: many of the drivers live in fear of their own lives. The solution is to increase the number of staff.

Crime is another problem on the Underground - a problem which might be eased if there were more staff on stations. London Underground say crime rates are falling, but 15,000 crimes were reported to British Transport Police last year. Approximately 8,000 were incidents of pick-pocketing, but there were also 496 muggings, 256 indecent assaults and 604 violent incidents including murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and malicious wounding. Mr Burns said crime has reached such a level that passengers are deterred from travelling by Tube, particularly at night. A recent survey found that 96 per cent of women and 56 per cent of men felt unsafe on the Tube after dark. The sparce presence of the British Transport Police does little to allay fears, he said.

British Transport Police seem to think their staffing levels are high enough, with a workforce of 400. But according to Simon Lubin of BTP only 50 are on duty at any one time.

Officers spend much of their time trying to catch the criminals, he said. 'We have squads who look at crime patterns, target a particular area, carry out surveillance, then wait for the villain to strike.

If you want to avoid crime, said Mr Lubin, avoid travelling at certain times and in certain places: 'Russell Square is hot for pick-pockets because there are so many tourist hotels in the area. The East End and South London are worst for muggings; night-time for rape and murder and the rush-hour for indecent assault.

The important point is to keep it all in perspective, said Mr Lubin: 'We carry 570 million passengers each year. Whilst we try to avoid accidents and deter crime, we will never be immune from it.

But Mrs Woodley will not be persuaded to 'keep it all in perspective. She said the memory of losing her only child will propel her on.

(Photograph omitted)