An inquest into the death of a Year 7 pupil has heard he became distracted while at a railway crossing. Jaiden Shehata, 11, was walking across Bourneview crossing on his way to school when he was struck by a train.
The inquest, held on Thursday, heard the student, who had joined Riddlesdown Collegiate in South Croydon just four months earlier, was looking at his device when the collision occurred at 8.03am on January 23, 2025. Police arrived at 8.18am and paramedics pronounced him dead at 8.52am.
Jury findings on cause of death
A jury concluded that Jaiden “did not perceive the danger of the train approaching, probably because he was distracted by his mobile phone”, and that a lack of warning at the crossing contributed to the accidental death. His medical cause of death was recorded as “severe neck injuries”.
Sarah Ormond-Walshe, senior coroner at South London Coroners' Court, told Jaiden's family: “Everybody, everybody, looks at their phone. So please, let that go because every single person in this room does that, and he was only 11 years old. Thank you so much for your dignity. It must have been so difficult.”
Evidence and crossing risk assessment
The coroner said she will write a report on the prevention of future deaths. Summing up the evidence, she noted Jaiden had used the route since September 2024 and normally walked with his older brother, but was alone that day. Rail Accident Investigation Branch investigator Paul Tickner said forward-facing CCTV showed Jaiden had a “glowing object in his hands” and was not wearing headphones.
The inquest previously heard Jaiden was watching an eight-second video sent by a friend on WhatsApp when struck. Daniel Fisk, head of Level Crossings and Public Safety at Network Rail, explained risk levels are ranked A to M and 1 to 14, with A1 the highest. Bourneview was ranked C4 – “reasonably high risk” – in its May 2023 assessment. The crossing manager decided changes were needed, and there had been “approximately one near miss per year at Bourneview”.
Ms Ormond-Walshe added: “Jaiden died in January 2025. The most recent risk assessment conducted on the Bourneview level crossing was completed a year and eight months before his death. The work was planned for March 2026 - two years, nine months from the time of the risk assessment - and this was found by the RAIB to be an acceptable amount of time to put in recommended changes.”
