An Almondbury man who died after being struck by a train had been suffering depression and drinking heavily.

An inquest at Huddersfield heard that popular Simon Walker died on June 6, 2014 when he was hit by a train at Mirfield station.

Mr Walker, who started playing cricket for the Lascelles Hall Cricket Club when he was 14, had children aged eight and 11 at the time of his death and lived with his father in St Annes Gate.

Freelance hairdresser Mr Walker, 32, had been seen shortly before he went to the station in the nearby Navigation Pub on Station Road.

Senior coroner Martin Fleming heard statements that he had started to drink heavily and take drugs after he came out of a relationship in early 2014.

The increased intake of alcohol began to impact upon his mental health and job as a freelance hairdresser, the court was told.

In a statement, Mr Walker's mother, Anne Murphy, said: “He started to feel very down and told me he wanted to be with his brother Curtis, who died in 2012.”

The court heard that Mr Walker had tried to harm himself by jumping in front of a van in April and had ended up being treated in Dewsbury Hospital.

Ward doctor, Dr Abhay Das, said that Mr Walker was feeling suicidal and was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

He said: “His family was concerned and wanted to keep him in to assess him but he was adamant he wanted to be discharged and wasn’t presenting any depressive or psychotic symptoms.

“He was speaking rationally and agreed to be treated at his own home and we didn’t have any power to keep him there against his will because he didn’t meet the criteria to section him under the Mental Health Act.

“He also refused to give us permission to speak to his family.”

Paul Smith, a toxicologist, said it had been difficult to find any evidence that Mr Walker had been drinking heavily on the day of his death.

Recording a narrative verdict, senior coroner Martin Fleming said that Mr Walker deliberately took his own life but that it may have not been an intentional plan.

He said: “It must have been a terrible shock for all who knew him.”

Simon’s half sister, Rose Walker: “We’d like to thank the community for their support, which has been amazing.

“It just proved how popular he was, we just wish he could have realised this for himself.”