"Tragic accident" says family of man struck by train

The hearing at the Town Hall, Newbury, on Wednesday was told how 31-year-old Peter William Hartwell (pictured) had earlier stormed from the home he shared in Haywards Close, Thatcham, with partner Donna Heaver, after a tiff.
Miss Heaver said in a statement that on March 12 this year, Mr Hartwell had been working on a new computer she had bought and had drunk eight cans of cider as he did so.
Soon after midnight, they rowed after he slammed a door and Mr Hartwell stormed out, taking a bottle of wine with him.
Miss Heaver said: “He rang from Crown Mead to say he was going to kill himself.”
A second call followed, the inquest heard, in which Mr Hartwell said that he was by the railway and intended to take his own life.
However, his family said that Mr Hartwell, a “loving and devoted” son and partner, would never have deliberately carried out the threats.
Miss Heaver explained that the argument had been a tiff “like all couples have” and that she never for a moment believed that her partner would try to harm himself.
When, at 2.55am, she received an unfinished text from him saying: “You picked the wrong night to do this...,” she said she texted back, imploring “Talk to me”.
However, Miss Heaver said that Mr Hartwell’s phone had gone dead, mid-text, and she heard nothing more.
Later that morning, the inquest heard, an increasingly concerned Miss Heaver rang a friend named Eddie, who manned the level crossing at Colthrop Lane.
He told her the devastating news that a body had been found beside the line, which was later identified as that of Mr Hartwell.
The discovery had been made by a dog walker named Simon Barnett, the hearing was told, but British Transport Police were unable to trace which train had been involved because no drivers reported anything amiss.
A post mortem examination revealed that Mr Hartwell had died from multiple injuries, probably from a glancing blow from a train.
Miss Heaver stressed that they had enjoyed a happy, loving relationship and she believed his threats were made in drink.
Mr Hartwell’s parents, Richard and Anita, also said that they could not imagine their son had intended the consequences and added that he had “blossomed” in his relationship with Miss Heaver.
However, they added, he was “prone to making rash statements when inebriated” and went on: “We believe this was a tragic accident. He was upset and took himself away from the situation by going for a walk... he would have had his earphones in, playing music, and that would have prevented him hearing the train.”
Richard Hartwell said that he believed that his son’s phone went dead in mid-text because that was the moment the train struck.
Assistant deputy Berkshire coroner Anna Burnside said Mr Hartwell “enjoyed a drink but perhaps couldn’t handle it as well as other people”.
She said she was not convinced he had intended to harm himself and recorded an open verdict.
Afterwards Mr Hartwell’s family paid tribute to a “loving, kind and caring man who will be very much missed by all who knew him.”