A 21-year-old man who was killed after being hit by a train earlier this year took his own life because he was “unable to handle the pain caused by various things in his life”, an inquest heard yesterday (Wednesday).

Robert Bentley, of Waller Road, Beaconsfield, died after he was hit by the Chiltern Railways train near Beaconsfield Railway Station on April 28.

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 3.50pm, and it was confirmed that the collision was fatal, with Robert sadly being pronounced dead at the scene.

His death came after a secret struggle with a mental health problem, exacerbated by private therapy proving to be too expensive.

Giving evidence read out by coroner’s officer Annabelle West, train driver Rob Samuels described the moment his train hit the young man.

He said: “The train had passed Seer Green and Jordans station and I put the speed up to between 45 and 50 miles an hour.

“All of a sudden I noticed a male stumble out of the bushes and come towards the train.

“When I saw him I thought he could be messing around. But then he dropped down and placed his body across the rail in what looked like a deliberate act.”

Mr Samuels said he put the train’s brakes on but it was too late and it hit Robert before stopping several hundred yards away.

He added: “I called the British Transport Police and told them what happened.”

According to Robert’s ex-girlfriend Abigail Sheppard, he had previously threated to commit suicide on several occasions, with Robert even sending her pictures from near a train track on one occasion.

Miss Sheppard, who had been in a relationship with Robert for around 14 months, said: “He had suffered from depression but wasn’t taking anything for it.

“Robert had threatened to commit suicide during our relationship and attempted to commit suicide.”

The day before his death, Ms Sheppard said Robert repeatedly called and texted her, after they had broken up.

She added: “On 27th April I noticed that he had deleted me from several of his social media accounts.

“He also sent me a number of texts that made me worry that he was going to commit suicide.”

On the day of his death, Ms Sheppard said Robert jumped out of her car as she was dropping him off home, taking her mobile phone and car keys with him.

She said: “I went looking for him at his nan’s house but she said he hadn’t seen him. I realised he may have gone towards the rail tracks.

“I chased after him through the fields – I ran towards the train tracks and saw that a train had stopped and Robert’s body on the tracks.”

Assistant coroner Alison McCormick ruled the cause of death as suicide, and the medical cause of death was found to be decapitation due to a train collision.

Following his tragic death, his father Vincent Bentley started The Robert Bentley Memorial Fund, with money set to fund counselling for “those that urgently need it”.

For more information or to donate, go to www.robertbentley.org.uk.