Imperial physicist dies in Perth
Dr Barrett was killed in a car accident, when a stolen car crashed into the taxi he was in
An Imperial College physicist was killed in a car crash in Austalia in the early hours of 19 October 2012. Dr Sean Barrett, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a member of the Controlled Quantum Dynamics Group, had been in the country for less than an hour when the taxi he was in was hit by a speeding 4x4 that had previously ran a red light. Dr Barrett, 36, and his driver, Kuldeep Singh, are believed to have died instantly.
The larger car had been reported stolen on 16 October 2012 and police believe it had been used in a number of crimes prior to the crash. Thecar had been involved in a high-speed chase with the authorities, but the police withdrew when continuing was deemed to dangerous. The driver, who was taken to a local hospital with broken legs, has been charged with manslaughter.
In a statement, Assistant Police Commissioner Gary Budge said that the police chase ended “a long, long way from where the crash occurred”. He added: “It is difficult to imagine the trauma that two families must be feeling out there today. I want to pass on my condolences to both of those families and tell them we will provide all the support that is possible to both of them.”
Dr Barrett had studied at Cambridge University for his undergraduate and postgraduate degree. His doctoral work was on quantum information processing in a condensed matter system. He moved on to a junior position at HP Labs in Bristol, and after an initial spell at Imperial, eventually returned to Imperial College London where he held the Royal Society University Research Fellowship. At the time of the accident, he had only been lecturing for one year.
Dr Barret had been due to speak at a quantum physics conference the following week. In light of his death the conference was rededicated in his memory. The Universities of Western Australia and Queensland, who organised the event, released a statement praising “Sean’s strength of character and insight”. It went on to say: “He was at the height of his career and leaves an outstanding research record. His tragic and sudden death is a profound loss to the research community.”
A statement from Imperial College also praised Dr Barrett’s research, adding: “His loss will be greatly felt by the scientific community. Our thoughts and condolences are with Dr Barrett’s family, friends and colleagues at this tragic time.”
Professor Myungshik Kin and Dr Terry Rudolph wrote a tribute to their friend and colleague on the Imperial College website. In this, they described working with him as “a joy” and remembered that he “organised Wednesday breakfast meetings for the Controlled Quantum Dynamics groups for two years”. They said that “his hugely charismatic personality was a crucial part of their success”.
They ended the tribute by saying: “We will miss Sean’s humour, his reliability, his basic ‘mateship’ and his fundamental decency as a human being”.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, his mother, Jan Barrett, described her great loss saying: “Everybody absolutely loved him and had great respect for the work he was doing. He would have gone on to do more great things.” A statement from the family added: “[Sean] was a charismatic man who had the rare gift to light up any room. He is a loss to science, and to life. He was cut short in his prime. Rightly, his family, friends and his colleagues whom he leaves behind are devastated.”
