A drunken prank turned to tragedy when a man pretended to jump in front of a train and slipped, an inquest heard this morning.

George Chivers, 43, of Crayford in Kent, was electrocuted at Earlsfield station on June 5 after “clowning around” on the platform, Westminster Coroner's Court was told.

The painter and decorator had been drinking with a friend before he fell in front of a parked train at around 11.50pm.

Darren Clarke, the train driver, said: “I could hear George's friend saying, 'don't be silly, jumping in front of the train'. He waved at me through the windscreen.

“It's not uncommon to have people pretend to jump. The train was stopped. He was trying to make faces at me through the front windscreen, lost his balance and fell over.

“He was clowning around.”

Mr Chivers had been painting a local pub with his housemate, Stuart Murchison, earlier in the day before going for several drinks in the evening.

Dr Peter Wilkins, who conducted the postmortem report, told the court Mr Chivers' blood alcohol level was three-and-a-half times over the legal driving limit after he died.

The two friends went to platform 3 of Earlsfield Station at around 11.30pm to take a train home to Kent via Waterloo and chatted happily with a young couple as it began to rain.

Mr Murchison told the court: “I pressed open the door and I looked around to see George and that's when I saw him fall.

“I only assumed that where it was wet, he had slipped. He had his big bag on so it probably toppled him.”

Witnesses saw Mr Chivers attempt to get up twice, but then fell flat on his face and the colour began to drain out of his skin.

Dr Wilkins told the court it was likely Mr Chivers' rucksack had touched the live rail and the electricity had conducted into his body because of the wet conditions.

Paramedics tried to save him using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but were forced to pronounce him dead at the scene at 12.35am.

The death was all the more tragic for his mother, Jean, and the rest of his family – who lost contact with Mr Chivers nine years ago.

In a statement, she told the court he was artistic and musical as a boy, but left school at 16 and switched between jobs for most of his life, never wanting to apply himself to a career.

He smoked cannabis and enjoyed drinking, with his friend Mr Murchison describing him as a “likable, happy-go-lucky” character.

His family last saw him on Mother's Day in 2001, when he promised to come again at Christmas but never did.

Dr Shirley Radcliffe, coroner, concluded that he died as a result of electrocution in the presence of intoxication – and ruled his death an accident.

She said: “All of us with sons of a certain age struggle with these sorts of problems. You're not alone.

“You can give your advice but I'm afraid sometimes it falls on deaf ears. He has chosen his way in life, he's obviously found a niche.

“It's a problem in society that we don't seem to realise that bouts of drinking are very dangerous.”

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