Widow killed on Merseyrail line

Apr 18 2008 by Lorna Hughes, Liverpool Daily Post

Jeannie Wilson

AN 80-YEAR-OLD woman died while crossing a railway line in Wirral on her way to tend her allotment.

Jeannie Wilson 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 in Hoylake, 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 in the incident.

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

He said he sounded the train’s 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, white female, who he estimated to be between 50 and 60 years old, on the crossing and again sounded the horn.

David Hall, an inspector for the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, said one possible explanation for the incident could be that Mrs Wilson saw the train and had expected it to stop at Manor Road, as was usually the case.

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 born in Northern Ireland, and was a retired cleaner with three daughters and three granddaughters.

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

She said she was an animal lover who was known for always helping others and was well-known and much-loved in Hoylake.