Boy was on phone to father as train struck

A TEENAGER who was trapped in front of an oncoming train pleaded desperately for help during a phone call with his father moments before he died.

An ongoing inquest has heard that Ryan Quinn, 14, from Coleraine in Co Derry, lost his life after his hand became lodged in a cattle grid in Portrush, Co Antrim, in January 2009.

Moments before his death — in which he suffered spinal injuries and severed limbs — the teenager made a frantic call to his father, Ivan, claiming he had been attacked by other teenagers at the nearby McLaughlin’s pub and chased onto the train line.

Ryan, whose postmortem confirmed he was more than three times over the limit, reportedly said: “Daddy, you are going to have to come quickly. I cannot get out, my knuckle is stuck.”

In a statement given to Coleraine Coroner’s Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison, Mr Quinn said his son “was starting to get hysterical and... was begging me, he was screaming down the phone”.

Ryan was hit by the last train from Coleraine to Portrush and suffered fatal injuries during the call.

The public prosecution has told the dead boy’s family there is insufficient evidence to bring a case against two individuals who may have been involved in chasing the teenager onto the tracks.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has been unable to prove how Ryan came to be lying on the line when the train hit him.

Train driver Ian Cairns said he believed he saw a second person running away from the line a split-second before the collision.

“I suddenly had a flashback, it was so vivid it gave me goose-bumps. I am convinced there was someone else on the track prior to the train hitting Ryan Quinn,” he said.

Mr Cairns first statement to police made no reference to seeing anybody else.

Coroner John Leckey said the scenario was “a real nightmare situation”.

Ryan Quinn was three times over the legal limit when he died and had been at the pub celebrating his half-brother Dean Quinn’s 18th birthday.

The teenager, from Slemish Place, Coleraine, suffered multiple injuries including spinal fractures and severed limbs.

The victim’s mother, Lisa Kinnaird, said she did not know he was going to a pub or that he had been drinking. She thought her son was having a meal and celebrating the birthday with his father.

Detective chief inspector, Ian Harrison, said some witnesses in the pub had not come forward. He has appealed for anybody with information to contact them.

The inquest continues.

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