The rescuers built bonfires to help illuminate the scene and included using the roof of the destroyed coach to help feed the bonfires. Buses also illuminated the scene using their headlights. There were at least three inquiries into the crash, a criminal inquiry against the driver of the 7:40 in April 1945, a collection of several civil cases against the railway, and a Ministry of Commerce investigation by R. Dundas Duncan, the Inspector of Railways for Northern Ireland. The driver of the 7:40, Isaac McQuillan, was charged with manslaughter in April 1945 for the death of a passenger: Samuel Wilson. During the hearing, two passengers testified that they were in the driver's compartment. One of the witnesses said there were six passengers in the driver's compartment. He was found not guilty after four days. During the trial, an expert witness for the defence said the "Stop and Proceed" rule was unheard of in Britain and placed an unfair burden on the driver. Another defence witness, a civil engineer, said the police tests of the braking system found it to be extremely inefficient. He further testified that because the two coaches that collided were of such different construction, this greatly contributed to the severe loss of life on the one with none in the motor coach. There were at least 18 civil cases that were consolidated down to one test case for purposes of determination of liability on the part of the railway . The victim used as the test case was James McCoy of Sydenham. On 22 July 1946, this test case was found in favour of the plaintiff who was awarded . This allowed damages to be assessed in all the other civil cases. In March 1947, a damage claim of was dismissed for plaintiff John McCoy, of Holywood because he was travelling on a weekly ticket, and one of the conditions of that ticket was "its holder will have no legal right of action against the company for injury, however caused." In February 1947, the Railway tried to have its liability in the case of William Redpath of Bangor reduced by the amount of monies received by the victim from charities. The argument was rejected in March. As of February 1948, cases were still being settled. The public hearing was held on 29 January. Duncan stated that it was the worst rail crash in Northern Ireland since 1889. After opening the hearing and asking if anyone present had anything they wished to say and no one offering, Mr. Duncan declared that he would hear the evidence in private. After a protest from a member of the public, Mr. Duncan explained that the purpose of the hearing was to learn what could be changed on the railways to prevent future accidents and was not to fix blame.