A TEENAGER was run over by a train after lying on the line, an inquest heard.

Stephen Douglas was driving a passenger train round a bend in the track when he saw 19-year-old Ben Williams lying across the rails.

Mr Williams was only 120 yards ahead of him and the train needed a quarter of a mile to stop.

The train driver told an inquest in Middlesbrough: "I made an emergency brake application and sounded the horn. I saw the male sit up and look at me.

"He did not get straight up and it seemed to take him two or three seconds for him to realise he was in danger.

"He got to his feet and kicked off, trying to run out of the way, but he slipped on a sleeper. By this time I was on top of him.

"He started crawling to try and pull himself out of the way. Then I lost sight of him as he went under the front of the train.''

Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield heard that Mr Williams, of Ida Street, Middlesbrough, suffered from attention deficiency disorder with hyperactivity, and was an attention seeker, who often laughed when the risks and dangers of situations were pointed out to him.

A friend, Saudhul Zaman spoke to Mr Williams, in Middlesbrough, on Sunday, July 27, last year - the day he died.

The two had enjoyed a stag party the previous night in Newcastle.

Mr Zaman said: "He seemed happy, just normal. I could not pick fault with him."

Mr Douglas was driving an Arriva passenger train from Whitby to Middlesbrough, when he saw Mr Williams lying across the track.

Pathologist Dr Mustansir Nurbhai said his death would have been instantaneous, from shock as a result of extremely severe injuries.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, Mr Sheffield said: "He has to a large extent been the author of his own misfortune.

"He had taken a reckless course of action by lying on the line.

"It's not certain why he should have done that."

Mr Williams died near Longlands Road railway bridge, Middlesbrough, near his home.