A SAUNDERSFOOT man was killed after being hit by a train when a prank involving laying between the tracks went wrong, an inquest heard.

The body of 44-year-old Paul Anthony Hart was found on the railway line near his Valley Road home on July 15 of this year.

The inquest heard he may have got an adrenaline “thrill” from cheating death by laying between the tracks as trains passed over him.

At the November 15 inquest, Coroner’s Officer for British Transport Police John Wilson said Mr Hart, of 2 Middlehill, was struck at 9.48am by the train, travelling towards Tenby.

The train was accelerating up to 50mph at the time, the driver seeing Mr Hart on the line near the Valley Road railway bridge at the last moment.

Emergency brakes were applied, but the driver felt the sickening impact.

Mr Hart was later identified by a local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), who had regular contact with him.

A tablet electronic device containing short clips of Mr Hart standing alongside the line, together with searches for train times was found nearby.

The inquest heard a statement from of friend of Mr Hart’s, which said Mr Hart “…got some sort of thrill of laying on the line and allowing trains to pass over him,” adding: “He said he would send a video next time he did it.

“A few days before he did it, he said he had filmed a train going over him, but it didn’t record.”

Attempts were made to discourage Mr Hart from doing it again, the inquest heard.

It was stressed there no evidence Mr Hart had ever intended to take his life.

“It seems to have been a prank to impress his friends that went badly wrong,” Mr Wilson said.

A post-mortem report by Dr John Murphy found an alcohol level of roughly three times the drink-drive limit in Mr Hart’s blood, along with a low level of diazepam.

Dr Murphy gave the cause of death as multiple injures sustained in the collision.

Reaching a conclusion of death by misadventure, HM Coroner for Pembrokeshire Mark Layton said: “Paul Anthony Hart seemed to get a thrill from laying on a railway track; on this occasion the train has made contact with him, causing a fatal injury.

“Mr Hart seems not to have fully recognised the dangers in doing this.”