Hoylake crossing death was accidental

Apr 23 2008 by Lorna Hughes, Hoylake and West Kirby News

AN ELDERLY woman died while crossing the railway line in Hoylake on her way to tend her allotment.

Jeannie Wilson, 80, was killed on July 31 last year after being hit by an out-of-service Merseyrail train travelling from West Kirby to a depot at Birkenhead North station.

Mrs Wilson, of Hazel Road, Hoylake, was struck as she attempted to cross at unmanned Sandringham Avenue level crossing, close to Manor Road station, with her dog.

The train, which was on a test run and was not scheduled to stop at any stations, had no passengers apart from three Merseyrail fitters in the first carriage.

An inquest into Mrs Wilson’s death at Wallasey Town Hall, which was held before a jury, heard she suffered multiple injuries.

Coroner’s officer Ronald Hankey said driver Alun Fessey had applied the train’s emergency brake system but was unable to avoid a collision.

He said Mrs Wilson, who wore a hearing aid, usually used the crossing once a day and sometimes more to visit her allotment on the other side of the railway line.

In a statement, Mr Fessey described weather conditions on the day of Mrs Wilson’s death as clear and sunny.

He said he sounded the horn at two earlier unmanned crossings and again when approaching the crossing at Sandringham Avenue.

As the train passed the end of the platform at Manor Road station, he saw a slim woman, who he estimated to be aged between 50 and 60, on the crossing and again sounded the horn.

Coroner Christopher Johnson directed the jury to return either an open verdict or that Mrs Wilson died as a result of an accident.

The jury returned with a verdict of accidental death.

A widow, Mrs Wilson was joined by family and 100 friends for an 80th birthday celebration six weeks before her death.

After the inquest, one of her daughters, Mandy Wilson, of Tranmere, spoke of her mother’s “energy”.

She said: “She was a very special lady. Although she was 80 she was constantly mistaken for someone of 60.”