Driver who died after stopping his car in front of a train in Palgrave had a history of mental illness, court hears
A man who died after driving his car into the path of a main line train had
suffered mental health issues for many years, an inquest has heard.
Michael Howsen, 54, died from multiple head, neck and chest fractures
in the incident at Palgrave level crossing, near Diss, on September 29 last
year.
The inquest today (Monday) at Suffolk Coroners Court in Ipswich heard
that Mr Howsen's car became trapped beneath the front of a 90mph
train which took a mile to come to a halt.
Mr Howsen, of Chapel Close, Fressingfield, had just over an hour earlier
missed being struck by another train when he drove onto a level crossing
at Mellis.
In phone calls to his daughter shortly before the Mellis near-miss,
Mr Howsen sounded slurred, his mood seemed low and he said that he had
"had enough".
The inquest heard that Mr Howsen, a self-employed excavator driver, had
been prescribed medication after being diagnosed with paranoid
schizophrenia but had recently stopped taking it, telling his GP that he felt
better and was not experiencing any symptoms.
However, three days before her father's death, his daughter said his mental health appeared to have deteriorated and had had phoned her to say he was trying to "find the scousers who are out to get me."
Assistant Suffolk Coroner Dr Daniel Sharpstone said his daughter had
tried to reassure her father and explained that what he believed was
happening was all in his mind.
On September 29, Miss Howsen was in Norwich when her father called to
say he was in the car park of the Railway Tavern at Mellis. When she
called the pub, staff told her that a car had narrowly missed being struck
by a train.
Miss Howsen drove from Norwich and after contacting Network Rail was
told about the Mellis near-miss and that a car matching the description of
her father's had been struck by another train at Palgrave.
Assistant Coroner Dr Sharpstone said examination of Mr Howsen's mobile
phone records showed he had called a mental health support team shortly
before his death but their office was closed. He had also made a brief call
to the Samaritans.
In a statement, train driver Adrian Harris said he had passed the Mellis
crossing at a reduced speed after being alerted to the earlier near-miss and
had resumed normal 90mph speed as he approached the crossing at
Palgrave.
After seeing a silver coloured car stopped on the opposite track, Mr Harris
sounded the train horn and then saw the car move across into his path as he
applied emergency braking but an impact could not be avoided.
British Transport Police who investigated the collision said no note written
by Mr Howsen was found at the scene or at his home.
The Coroner said: "It is clear that Michael Howsen had a significant history
of mental illness, in particular paranoid schizophrenia, and it appears that his
mental health was deteriorating up to the time of this incident.
"It appeared from messages to his daughter that he had 'had enough'."
Dr Sharpstone recorded a conclusion that Mr Howsen died as a result of
a road traffic collision caused by him deliberately stopping his car in front
of a train.