A TRAIN driver told how a Welling pensioner died after walking into the path of his train.

Harold Bennett, aged 75, of Lynmere Road, had taken a cab to Welling railway station on November 11, Southwark Coroner's Court was told.

But, although Mr Bennett's son Martin told the court his father had seemed far from suicidal in the days before his death, he also said Mr Bennett senior had been upset by his experience at Queen Mary's hospital Sidcup, two days before.

His father, he said, had been taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties, but was left unattended for 12 hours.

Connex South East driver Matthew Russell from Balmoral Road, Sutton-at-Hone, said: “I noticed an elderly gentleman out of the corner of my eye, who was walking at speed.

“I thought No, he can't be' and pulled the emergency brake. He got down quite quickly onto the track. I saw him cross the track.”

Mr Russell demonstrated to the court how Mr Bennett had held his hand in front of his face, as if he was shielding himself from the impact of the train.

Mr Russell leapt from the train when it had stopped, and applied the circuit breaker to cut off the electric current. “That's when I found him, under the second carriage.”

Mr Bennett, who suffered from Meniere's Disease which affects the balance, died from multiple injuries including a fractured skull.

An inquest jury returned an open verdict on his death.