Frantic last call by boy on rail line

A teenager telephoned his father and begged for help as he lay trapped in front of an oncoming train, an inquest heard.

Ryan Quinn, 14, had trapped his hand in a cattle grid in Portrush, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, in January 2009. Moments before his death, he made a frantic call to his father, Ivan, claiming he had been attacked in nearby McLaughlin's bar and was being chased.

He said: "Daddy, you are going to have to come quickly. I cannot get out, my knuckle is stuck." Moments later, he was hit by the last train from Coleraine to Portrush. The train driver said he had seen a figure running away from the lines.

The Coleraine coroner found that Ryan had died from multiple injuries.

Outside the court, police said they were still investigating the death and treating it as murder.