Family 'crushed' by Pembrokeshire man's death, inquest told

Robert Jones, from Clynderwen, was killed on the morning of September 28, 2019 near St Cadoc’s Hospital, Newport, Gwent, where he had been admitted the day before.

A statement read out on behalf of Mr Jones' mother Sharon Harris at Newport Coroner’s Court said her son was a ‘kind, warm-hearted man’ with whom she had a ‘special relationship’.

She said she had been due to pick him up from the hospital on September 28 and that he had texted her that morning.

Ms Harris said Mr Jones' family had been ‘absolutely crushed’ by his death as her son ‘was just finding his niche in life’.

"He was my friend as well as my only child and I miss him so much," she told the court.

PC Elliot Morgan from Gwent Police said Mr Jones was found walking on the A465 near Abergavenny the day before he died.

He said Mr Jones was ‘confused’ and ‘covered with mud’ and unable to tell officers what had happened to him.

After speaking with a mental health practitioner at Gwent Police, PC Morgan and his colleague brought Mr Jones to St Cadoc's under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, concerned he was having suicidal thoughts.

Eleanor Sparshott, deputy ward manager at the Bellevue ward at St Cadoc's Hospital, told the court Mr Jones spoke about ‘hearing voices in his head’, describing the fact she had not taken account of police references to Mr Jones’ mention of ‘a bridge in Haverfordwest’ in her notes as an ‘oversight’.

Ms Sparshott confirmed that she did not have access to patient information held on other systems as Mr Jones was not from the Aneurin Bevan Health Board area.

A statement read out on behalf of John Wilson from British Transport Police said that a passenger train travelling from Cardiff to Crewe at around 8.05am on Saturday, September 28, 2019 had struck a man who emerged from undergrowth.

Consultant pathologist Dr James Harrison said Mr Jones had died from ‘injuries consistent with being struck by a train’.

The inquest continues.