Mystery surrounds the reason why a 55-year-old grandmother deliberately threw herself in front of a speeding train an inquest heard.
Carol Rider, of Bank Gate, Slaithwaite, died instantly after being struck by the TransPennine service which was travelling at 75mph on July 23 at the village railway station.
The inquest at Bradford Coroner’s Court heard evidence from her daughter-in-law Tracy Rider that the mother-of-three was naturally a happy, chatty, outgoing person who was “always smiling.”
In a statement read out by assistant deputy coroner, Oliver Longstaff, newly qualified train driver Victoria Hughes told of the dreadful moment just before Mrs Rider jumped to her death.
She said: “Out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman on Platform One and I immediately thought something was not right.
“She didn’t step back so I applied my emergency brakes. I saw her for a split second before she jumped off in front of the train I was driving. I knew she had gone under the wheels of the train.”
The train came to a halt and she made an emergency call. Miss Hughes added: “It was a clear day and it had not been raining. I didn’t see her until the last minute.”
In an excerpt of a transcript of an interview with British Transport Police read to the court she described the tragic moments before Mrs Rider’s death. She said: “I just knew she was going to. She took a running jump off the platform edge.”
The court also heard evidence from the deceased’s husband Kenneth and her GP, Rebecca Hoddinott who saw her during the period November 2012 to April 2014.
Dr Hoddinott said in a statement that Mrs Rider told her she had suffered work-related stress and “admitted she had stress at home. She confided her concerns but didn’t want details on her medical notes.” The court heard she had suffered from postnatal depression in the past and had tried to take her own life.
In a statement Mr Rider said as soon as he woke up at 8.30am on July 23 he was worried but he added: “there was no logical explanation why she would want to end her life”.
And Tracy Rider added the couple had two grandchildren on the way to look forward to.
She said: “Financially they were comfortable. There was no reason for me to think anything was wrong with her.”
Mr Longstaff concluded that Mrs Rider intentionally took her own life.
