A SCHOOLBOY texted a girl he liked saying “I’m going for a while, don’t forget me” before jumping under a train in front of classmates, an inquest heard today.
Sam Connor, 14, asked a pal when a train would be going fast enough to kill him moments before the tragedy at Chertsey station in Surrey.
The Year 9 pupil had received a “negative” report from The Salesian Secondary School on July 15 last year.
An inquest in Woking also heard how Sam had messaged a girl he liked, saying: “I’m going for a while, don’t forget me.”
CCTV was shown to the inquest today of Sam’s last moments as he waited on the platform with around 50 classmates.
He could be seen speaking with a friend as he crossed the yellow hazard line.
TRAGIC DEATH
The inquest heard Sam was standing so close to the edge of the platform another pupil called out “don’t do it!”
This was a common joke the youngsters shared when someone was standing over the yellow line, the hearing was told.
A witness told the inquest Sam handed his bags to a peer and asked him to “look after them for a minute”.
He then tragically jumped in front of the train while singing Brighton Rock by Queen, which his pals were playing out loud at the time.
Keen breakdancer Sam died from a cut to his neck, a pathologist concluded.
Senior coroner for Surrey, Richard Travers, today questioned one of Sam’s friends over a reported “suicide pact”.
The 15-year-old was seen by witnesses talking and whispering while looking down at the tracks “as though something was about to happen”.
But giving evidence, the boy said he could not remember what was discussed moments before Sam jumped on the tracks.
‘SUICIDE PACT’
Mr Travers said: ““Let me be frank with you, you are seen to walk up that platform quite deliberately. Sam then follows you and there is plainly conversation going on between the two of you.
“As Sam walks towards the platform edge, you walk back from Sam and walk back in the opposite direction. I want to know what conversation you had and what was being said between you and Sam at that time please.”
The inquest heard how police were told about a suicide pact between Sam, his friend and another boy.
But he said he had taken it as a “joke” so he agreed to it to also “be in on the joke”.
The boy added: “I am pretty sure he had joked about pacts like that before.”
‘NEGATIVE’ REPORT
The inquest heard the teen had an “enjoyable dinner” on a trip to see his sister the night before his death.
His mum had taken him to the station the following morning, where she told him to “have a nice day”.
While at school, Sam, who suffered from anxiety, was given a “negative” report which would have “upset him”, his family said.
School friends told the hearing Sam had been heard talking about suicide in the lead up to his death but said they did not think this was unusual because he often discussed killing himself.
Police also discovered Sam had told a classmate that he was considering suicide on the day he died.
The boy said: “During the lesson, Sam was slouching as he usually did. He told me that he wanted to commit suicide. I cannot remember his exact words but he either said ‘I want to’ or ‘I am going to’.
“He was going in to far more detail than usual, talking about the station and jumping in front of a train. He asked me if I thought the train would be going fast enough to kill him. Sam has said similar things in the past, but I always though that they were throwaway comments.
“He tried to give me his phone, iPod and keys but I did not take them.”
The teen tried to give his belongings to several other students throughout the day but his peers had believed he was playing a practical joke.
One boy, who can’t be named, said he saw Sam sitting alone on benches at the school looking “really sad” before spotting the teen again at Chertsey station.
He said: “I remember seeing a note, a folded up piece of A4 paper. On the note was written, ‘give this to the authorities’ and there was also a list of names.
“Other than the names, there was a written paragraph.”
The names included two teachers and three boys from his school, who the inquest heard Sam had no genuine issue with and had written for a “joke”.
The book containing the note was later identified as An Inspector Calls, which they had just finished reading in English class.
‘GENTLE-NATURED’
Another witness told how Sam sent her a message in the May before his death, saying: “Do you think a three-storey high building will kill someone if they jump?”
But she added: “I moved the conversation on because Sam said things like that a lot.
“We would usually think, ‘oh, that’s just Sam’. I never thought it was my place to tell anyone that Sam was upset because it was so obvious. Also, I did not want to lose Sam as a friend.”
Pupils said they did not believe Sam was being bullied and explained he was popular in his own group of friends.
He had been referred to mental health workers in Surrey in July 2013 due to issues around food intake, which they believed were psychological.
But this was closed by October that year as Sam was trying new foods and seemed more positive.
Paying tribute to Sam, his family said in a statement: ““He was a kind, caring, gentle-natured boy from birth.