Man dies in fall between two railway carriages

AN elderly man’s St Patrick’s day trip to Dublin ended in tragedy when he became entangled underneath a departing train, an inquest heard yesterday.

Henry Hayward, 78, of Glendore Avenue, Belfast, tried to board his train home as the doors were closing but stumbled and fell between two carriages. Frantic efforts by a train inspector to pull him out failed and the man got caught underneath the wheels and was pulled along. He died almost instantaneously from spinal injuries.

Mr Hayward’s family raised questions at Dublin City Coroner’s Court regarding the victim’s death on March 17 last. Solicitor for the family Michael Finucane attempted to establish how the tragedy happened, and how Mr Hayward was able to be only a couple of feet away from the train, or possibly even leaning against it, when it started to pull out.

The court heard conflicting accounts from train staff and passengers over how close Mr Hayward, who appeared intoxicated, was to the train. Some said that he was actually leaning against a door of the train just seconds or a minute before it pulled off. Two senior staff, the train guard Alastair Reilly and the train inspector Christy Doyle, maintained he was several feet away.

Mr Finucane asked Mr Reilly and Mr Doyle why did they not check on Mr Hayward, especially given evidence that he was standing near the train for 20 minutes. Both said they thought Mr Hayward was not a passenger and was seeing someone off. They also said that Mr Hayward had no luggage and that he did not move or respond to two separate whistles announcing the train’s departure. However, two other staff said they thought he was a passenger and shouted at him to get on, but Mr Hayward never responded.

It was only when the doors started to close did Mr Hayward suddenly move. Returning a verdict of accidental death, the jury recommended that safety officers be present near the emergency brakes at all times.