Boy died after stepping in front of train hours after drinking pints with friends

A 17-year-old boy was in the grip of an “intense emotional crisis” when he stepped in front of a train in an act described as “devastatingly out of character”, an inquest has heard.

Herbie Ballard died at a pedestrian railway crossing in Whitstable on the evening of April 22, only hours after he had been “happily” drinking pints with friends.

Emergency services were called shortly before 10pm, but Herbie had suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a tribute, his family remembered him as a “truly remarkable young man” who was kind, generous and “full of love”, with a rare enthusiasm for life.

The inquest at Maidstone heard that Herbie had been at the Two Brewers pub in Canterbury Road before an argument with his ex-girlfriend began shortly before 8pm.

The dispute later continued at his family home, where she had gone to collect her belongings.

Herbie’s mother, Tara, told the hearing at Oakwood House in Maidstone last week that her son had learned some “distressing information” and that the “hurt and upset was overwhelming for our son”.

She said she had “never in 17 years seen that face”, adding: “I can’t describe it, but it wasn’t Herbie. He was so angry.”

Herbie’s mother tried to stop him from leaving as he ran from the house, ‘grabbing hold of him’ and saying ‘don’t you dare go outside’ as she ‘didn’t want the argument to ensue,’ she said.

She added: ‘He just got free from me and just said, “I’m going to kill myself”, ran down the stairs and out. But we’d never heard him talk like that.’

The teenager left without his shoes, with his parents believing he would calm down and return within minutes.

Tara recalled thinking at the time: ‘He’s got no shoes on. It’s getting cold. He’ll be back in a minute.’

‘It just happened so quickly,’ she added.

The inquest heard Herbie’s ex-girlfriend followed him towards the nearby railway crossing and attempts were made to persuade him away from the line.

The train driver later told British Transport Police he saw two young people near the crossing and described one as moving towards the train in a way which appeared ‘more deliberate than accidental’.

However, it was dark, visibility was poor, and the driver had only a short time to see what was happening.

A post-mortem examination found Herbie died from multiple injuries.

Alcohol was detected in a liver sample, though the amount could not be established, and the coroner said the evidence did not suggest Herbie had been too intoxicated to understand what he was doing.

The hearing was told Herbie had never been diagnosed with a mental health condition, was not known to local mental health services and there had been no previous indication he was suicidal.

His family described him as kind, cheeky and sociable, with a love of football, cooking and being outdoors.

He began working at 13 and later joined mental health and wellbeing initiative Revival Food and Mood, where he progressed from pot washer to kitchen assistant.

After leaving school, he enrolled on a carpentry course at Canterbury College before securing full-time work in construction.

‘He was so excited to go to work with the lads in the van, and loved his life, his family and his friends,’ his mother said.

Herbie was also due to take his driving theory test the following week and had a car waiting for him.

The inquest considered whether Herbie’s death could legally be recorded as suicide.

Tara said the term was difficult to reconcile with the ‘happy teenager’ who had been making plans for his future.

Coroner Sarah Clarke acknowledged her point but explained she had to decide whether Herbie deliberately acted to end his life in those final moments, rather than whether he had been suicidal in the weeks or months beforehand.

She added that such a conclusion could be reached ‘even if it’s a very impulsive act’.

But Tara said: ‘Herbie was just caught up in a moment of horrible things that he’d never had in his life and didn’t know what to do with them.

‘It was just a moment of madness.

‘And he didn’t have time to breathe. That was the problem.’

The coroner argued her conclusion ‘doesn’t change the boy that he was’.

‘The evidence does not suggest that Herbie had any sustained or long-standing intention to take his own life,’ she said.

However, the coroner found he had expressed an intention to do so during ‘a moment of extreme upset and distress’ during which ‘tragically, he acted upon thoughts of ending his life’.

‘For all of these reasons, the appropriate conclusion remains one of suicide,’ she said.

Following the hearing, Tara said the family respected the coroner’s finding, but stressed it reflected Herbie’s intention in his final moments rather than evidence of a prolonged suicidal state.

‘Herbie was not a young man who had been living with an ongoing mental-health condition or suicidal thoughts,’ she said.

‘He was deeply loved, supported and surrounded by a close family and lifelong friends.

‘Nothing about what happened was consistent with the Herbie we knew.

‘It was sudden, situational and devastatingly out of character.’

Herbie’s family have now said they want others to understand a young person can experience extreme emotional distress even without previously appearing suicidal or having a diagnosed mental health condition.

Tara said relationships and break-ups could be experienced with enormous intensity, while phones, messaging apps and social media could leave little opportunity for arguments to end and emotions to settle.

She argued families and schools needed to talk about overwhelming emotions, relationship distress and impulsivity, as well as recognising persistent suicidal thoughts.

‘However unbearable something feels in one moment, that moment can pass,’ she said.

‘If something meaningful can come from the terrible loss of Herbie, we hope it is a greater understanding of that vulnerability, and more conversations with young people before an overwhelming moment becomes an irreversible one.’

The family said it plans to petition for the closure of the Ham Shades Lane level crossing where Herbie died and is developing Herbie’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador programme alongside Revival to work with schools and youth organisations.

Network Rail has been contacted for comment.

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support