GP comitted suicide by laying in front of train

Dr Alan Barker, 54, of Piddinghoe, worked at Quayside Medical Practice for 21 years.

He was killed by a train travelling at 60mph across Southease level crossing, near Lewes, on August 24 last year.

Dr Barker, a father of two adopted children, had told his wife, Wendy, that he had been under a great deal of pressure at work.

But colleagues said they were not aware of any problems and there were no indications anything was wrong.

Coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of suicide after hearing evidence at an inquest in Eastbourne on Tuesday.

Toxicologist Dr Peter Sharp, of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, said Dr Barker had an unusually high level of morphine in his blood, 0.60ml per litre of blood, a dose that could have killed him.

He also had 40mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood indicating he had also been drinking.

Mr Craze said: 'Alan Barker was quite a determined man and he was going to make sure he succeeded in what he was going to do. I think it is quite right he took the morphine to make the process less mentally and physically painful.'

Norman Moye was training two drivers in the train which struck Dr Barker.

It had left Brighton for Seaford at 12.40pm.

He told the court: 'We reduced the speed to 60mph as is the restriction. As we approached, we saw a man run out and lie on the crossing with his head towards us in a sort of foetal position. We applied the emergency brake but there was not a lot we could do and, unfortunately, we hit him. It looked like all his actions were deliberate.'

Mrs Barker, a lecturer at Sussex Downs College, Eastbourne, said: 'He was the sort of person always on the go at 100mph. On Tuesday August 23, he told me he did not know how much more stress he could take at work.

'He was a good family man and always found time for the children. We

had our normal ups and downs and rarely rowed and were comfortable.'

She said she was surprised at his choice of suicide as he had once spoken of his concerns for a train driver he had treated who had witnessed a suicide in this way.

Practice business manager at Quayside Medical Practice Karen Ford had worked with Dr Barker for just under a year.

She said: 'There was nothing out of the ordinary with him, no indications that anything was wrong.'

Mr Craze concluded that he was quite satisfied Dr Barker had intended to take his own life.

He recorded a verdict of suicide and said: 'This will have been an enormous shock to a very large number of people. Dr Barker was a well-respected, highly thought of and very capable GP. It will have been a shock to his colleagues and to his family and I wish to express my personal condolences and sympathy to them all.'