A TEENAGER was killed by a train when he chose to dash across the tracks to the opposite platform instead of using a footbridge, an inquest heard.

Christopher Deadman, 19, had been out for the afternoon with his friend Kieron Sewah, and they had a few drinks before going to catch the train home to Basingstoke.

However, a coroner heard that when the pair reached the station, Mr Deadman jumped down onto the tracks and tried to cross the rails to the other platform instead of using the footbridge.

A freight train managed to avoid hitting him by stopping, before a passenger train did hit him.

In a statement read at the inquest Mr Sewah said the pair had drunk around six pints and three shots at a couple of bars in Reading before going to catch the train home to nearby Basingstoke.

“I would say at this point we were pretty drunk but still able to stand and walk,” he added. “We were both happy, having a laugh, pratting about.”

However, the inquest in Reading heard how the happy day out turned to tragedy when Mr Deadman jumped down onto lines and his friend spotted an approaching freight train.

“Chris jumped down from the platform onto the tracks,” said Mr Sewah. “He didn’t say why he was doing it; I thought he was being a fool.

“I then saw a train coming towards us. I screamed at Chris and he ran across the tracks towards the other platform. It sounded its horn and stopped.”

The first train, a 36-carriage freight train travelling towards Reading from Westbury, Wiltshire, at around 25mph, managed to stop at Reading West Station and not strike the teenager on the tracks.

Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford heard that Mr Deadman had run across the railway lines before and had a daredevil attitude.

However, after the near miss Mr Sewah suddenly spotted another train, the 7.03pm high speed train from London Paddington to Plymouth, travelling along the other line towards the two-platform station.

He said: "I saw another train in the distance. I screamed again: ‘Get off the tracks. There is another train coming.'

"I don’t recall him saying anything but he did move closer to the wall as if to move out of the way. I then saw the train strike Chris,” he said.

Both trains came to a stop and emergency services were called to the station at around 7.40pm on Thursday, January 15. However, Mr Deadman, of Wadham Gardens, Popley, was declared dead at the scene.

A post mortem examination revealed the teenager was more than three times over the drink-driving limit when he was hit and confirmed he died from multiple injuries.

Giving evidence at the hearing on Tuesday, PC Matt Harvey, of the British Transport Police, said CCTV footage suggested Mr Deadman was swaying and unsteady on his feet when he arrived at the station.

“You can clearly see that both Christopher and Kieron, certainly Christopher, was swaying quite a lot, certainly heavily intoxicated,” he added.

However PC Harvey said there was no evidence Mr Deadman had been urinating against the edge of the platform, but had in fact been trying to squeeze himself against the wall to avoid the oncoming train.

“Most suggest he was trying to squeeze himself in to the platform edge, not realising there is quite a narrow gap,” he added.

In a statement read to the inquest Mr Deadman’s mother, Amanda, said her son did not always think before he acted and had crossed railway lines before.

“On occasions my son felt that he was invincible, he didn’t always think before he acted,” Mrs Deadman added. “He did take risks and didn’t quite see that there were consequences to his actions. I am aware that he crossed railways lines in the past.”

Recording a narrative verdict Mr Bedford ruled out suicide, instead saying Mr Deadman’s death was an accident born out of his “devil may care” attitude.

“As his mother has described he was a young man of 19,” he added. “I dismiss suicide, rather it was the actions of bravado, risk, devil may care of a young man who was drunk and it was a tragedy for those reasons.”