A TEENAGER threw himself in front of a train the day after he crashed his friend's sister's car, an inquest heard yesterday.

Neil Heaviside, 19, of Gordon Terrace, Ferryhill, County Durham, committed suicide on the East Coast main Line in June.

Train driver Malcolm Henderson told the inquest: "I saw him on the left-hand side of the crossing. He ran across and went behind some bushes.

"I thought he was just running across, then he jumped back on to the crossing. He looked at me and I realised what was happening. Eventually, he turned his back to me and there was absolutely nothing I could do.''

Friend Mathew David Vollans told how he had seen Mr Heaviside the night before, while out drinking in Bishop Auckland.

He said they had been waiting for a lift from Mr Vollans' sister when Mr Heaviside said he wanted to have a go at driving.

But he was involved in a collision with another vehicle and a girl passenger was taken to hospital.

Mr Vollans said that Mr Heaviside ran off. He said: "I chased after him and told him we should go back because we had crashed my sister's car. He said he was going."

Andrew Heaviside said his brother had confessed to him the next day what he had done and that he had been upset.

Another friend, Lee Thistlethwaite, did not believe Mr Heaviside would kill himself, but found a note written by him next to the railway.