Officer recalls moment train hit colleague

A police officer has told an inquest of the moments leading up to her colleague being fatally hit by a train as they tried to get a vulnerable man off railway tracks.

Sgt Graham Saville was struck after he was deployed to the railway line near Newark, Nottinghamshire, on 24 August 2023.

He survived the impact but died in hospital five days later, a hearing at Nottingham’s Council House was told.

On Tuesday, PC Liv Stockdale told the inquest she attended the scene with Sgt Saville and another colleague after reports a man, known as Patient C, had taken an overdose of caffeine and was heading towards the train tracks.

The inquest was told PC Stockdale and her colleague PC Ben Powell attended the scene and saw Patient C in Main Street, Balderton, at 18:58 BST.

She said she and PC Powell tried to engage with the man, who had called 999 to say he was going to walk in front of a train, but he walked up to an embankment and climbed a locked gate leading to the track.

The court heard Sgt Saville, a 46-year-old father of two, had been deployed separately because he was trained to use a Taser.

PC Stockdale said she had contacted the police control room a number of times asking for Network Rail to be asked to stop trains on the line.

The court heard a control room officer informed her a colleague was “on it” at 19:07 when Patient C climbed the gate and started to run down the railway line.

She told the court Sgt Saville ordered that all three of them follow Patient C when she again radioed in to request an urgent stop on the line.

The inquest was told there was a call from Nottinghamshire Police to Network Rail to get an urgent stop on trains at 19:08 and 23 seconds.

PC Stockdale said Patient C had shouted to say two trains were approaching – one from each direction.

Coroner Laurinda Bower said an order was issued from the police control room for officers not to go on the track at 19:08 and 43 seconds – two seconds before Sgt Saville was struck.

Ms Bower said the order had been issued “far too late” for the officers to get off the tracks and 20 minutes after they told the control room Patient C was heading towards the track.

The court heard the LNER trains on that line could travel at 55m per second.

PC Stockdale said she did not recall having a conversation with her colleagues about anyone being a “lookout” as they followed Patient C on to the tracks.

She said her radio signal, by the tracks, was intermittent, and there was noise from the wind and the oncoming trains preventing her from hearing.

The hearing continues.