Tragic death of Littlehampton teenager

Adam Blackwood, of Cornwall Road, died while running across the railway line between Angmering and East Preston at around 8.15pm on January 1, as three of his friends looked on in horror.

Tragically, just minutes earlier he had telephoned his mother to let her know he was ok.

The inquest into Adam's death, held at Worthing Town Hall on Tuesday, heard he had been drinking vodka and beer with friends shortly before the accident happened.

A post-mortem found that Adam had 123 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millitres of blood.

The pathologist reported that this amount would result in mild to moderate intoxication, impaired motor function, loss of inhibition and a willingness to take risks.

Adam, who worked as a building labourer, had met up with his friend Liam Colclough, 18, during the day on January 1 and they had gone on to meet two girls, Melissa Bastable, 13, and Stacey Dunstall, 15, in Angmering.

Together they had drunk vodka at a house in Angmering and beer in a park in the village.

The four then walked towards East Preston, planning to cross the railway line over a pedestrian crossing between Warren Crescent, East Preston and Ashurst Way, Angmering, known locally as "the stile".

Stacey Dunstall explained that when they arrived at the crossing they could see a train coming.

She said she and Melissa stopped and didn't cross but Adam and Liam ran to the other side, narrowly missing a London-bound train driven by Edward Shrubb of Portslade.

Mr Shrubb told the inquest he had seen a young man run in front of his train with a smile on his face and said he got a sense of "joie de vivre" from him as he ran across.

Stacey said that after the first train had passed, Liam stayed on the opposite side of the track but Adam ran back to where the girls were standing and then turned again and tried to cross in front of a second train, this time coming from the other direction, travelling towards Angmering station.

The train struck him, causing him a severe head injury which the pathologist concluded would have killed him instantly.

"I saw the train hit him," said Stacey. "I think he thought he would have been able to make it."

Sharon Shaw, whose house is next to the crossing, heard the commotion outside and the two girls screaming after the train hit Adam.

"The first thing I heard was someone shout 'don't be so stupid'.

"It was really quite quick, a train shot past and by the time I got outside another train had gone past.

"The girls were screaming and I knew someone had been hit because I had heard the noise.

"I shouted 'is everything ok' and they shouted back 'no, my friend has been hit'.

"I told them to wait there and I ran back and shouted to my partner to ring the police."

A few minutes later the police and ambulance service arrived. Officers from Littlehampton found Adam's body lying on the track.

David Strange, the driver of the second train, said in a statement that he heard a dull thud as he passed the crossing and after stopping at Angmering station he found a dead pheasant on the front of the train which he thought to have been the cause.

It was only while speaking to colleagues later that he realised there had been a fatality on the line and that his train was involved.

The safety of the crossing has been called into question on several occasions, most recently by Angmering Parish Council last year.

But reading from an assessment carried out by Network Rail in March 2005, PS Christine Holyoake of British Transport Police told the inquest it had been deemed "safe if used correctly" and was within the safety guidelines for pedestrian railway crossings.

Mrs Shaw, who has lived near the crossing for seven years said that in that time she had seen many occasions when it had not been used safely, mainly by children.

She said: "There have been problems there all the time '” kids putting things onto the tracks, throwing stuff at the trains, I've seen it.

"It's a busy crossing, especially when the children are going to school.

"We constantly hear the trains beeping their horns."

Speaking after the inquest, PS Holyoake said: "It's tragic to have to deal with the loss of such a valuable life.

"I hope this warns all young people about the dangers of railways. They are dangerous places but only if you mess about on or near them."

Coroner Martin Milward recorded a verdict of accidental death, concluding that "Adam was the author of his own misfortune".

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