Man died after train hit him as he bent down
THE boyfriend of a Cabinet minister’s daughter was killed after he was hit by a Tube train as he bent down to pick something up, an inquest has heard.
John Burgess, 27, was on a packed platform at Stockwell station, south London, when the train hit his head during the morning rush hour on April 10. Witnesses said Mr Burgess, who had been wearing headphones, had been picking up either a bag or a cigarette lighter when it happened. He was taken to King’s College Hospital, London, but died three days later.
Yesterday a coroner concluded that Mr Burgess died of a brain injury.
His mother, who would not give her name, said: “We would like to thank all the witnesses and bystanders who tried to help, including all the medical staff at King’s.”
Mr Burgess, an account manager, lived in Brixton, south London, with his girlfriend, Imogen, the daughter of David Willetts, the former Conservative universities and science minister.
Anastasios Giamouriadis, a neurosurgeon, told the inquest into Mr Burgess’s death: “His CT scan reveals significant brain damage. He had also sustained multiple skull fractures.”
Gary Mathias, who investigated the incident for the British Transport Police, said: “The majority of witnesses say Mr Burgess had actually dropped something that varies between cigarette lighter and bag.
“They noticed he was wearing headphones and bent down to retrieve what he dropped. As he was doing this, unfortunately a London Underground train approached the platform and he was struck by the train.”
He said Mr Burgess bent down when the train was “two seconds” away from him adding: “From our point of view the incident was totally non-suspicious.”
Lorna Tagliavini, the coroner, said: “There doesn’t appear to me any question of Mr Burgess having been pushed or jostled. It wasn’t any busier than normal. Nobody is talking about crushing conditions. It was just another morning on the London Underground.”
She recorded a verdict of accidental death.