Fatal Accident at Conisborough Railway Station

On Monday night a Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire goods train, which was passing through Conisborough station on its way to Doncaster, knocked down a man named John Newman and cut his leg off. The accident occurred on the outer line at the Cadeby side, and what the man was doing there is not known. The driver perceived that something unusual had happened and stopped the train. Newman was then placed in the guard’s van and taken to Doncaster, where he was conveyed to the Infirmary. It was stated that Newman was a Denaby miner who had just returned from the Barnsley demonstration, but it is now believed that while he lived at Denaby he was employed on the new line at Cadeby.

Yesterday afternoon, at the Doncaster Guild Hall, before Mr. Nicholson, deputy coroner, an inquest was held on the body of John Newman, a navvy, aged 52, who died from injuries received at Conisborough station on Monday night. Mr. J. C. Halmshaw, district superintendent of the line, was present, and also Mr. Barrow, the Conisborough stationmaster.

The first witness was Thomas Rush, a foreman employed on the new South Yorkshire Junction Railway, and in charge of the Sprotbro’ section of the line. He said he had known the deceased about twenty years; he was employed as excavator; he was missing one arm, and formerly was a horse driver. He did not know where he was a native of, but he had been working under deceased and had lodged with him. He last saw him alive on Monday night about eight o’clock, when he was going on his way to Denaby. He had not been working for three weeks and was going to seek work. He was quite sober when he last saw him.

The evidence of Mr. Barrow, stationmaster, Conisborough, showed that a mineral train had been standing at the station about twenty minutes, and that, after it had passed, the deceased was seen on the line badly injured. The presumption was that the man had been taking a short cut from the Cadeby side of the valley, and that he was in the act of either stepping across the buffers of a wagon or crawling underneath when the train commenced to move, and he was knocked down and run over. Reference was incidentally made to the number of persons who had been in the habit of taking short cuts instead of traversing the newly-constructed bridge from Cadeby to Conisborough.

The medical gentleman from the Doncaster Infirmary detailed the injuries deceased had received: one leg was cut off, and several ribs were fractured, in addition to other injuries. The poor fellow was conscious almost to the last. He succumbed on Wednesday.

A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned.