the Daily Mail wrote:



Girl who died for her mobile: Mother hit by train after jumping on the track to retrieve phone after row
Charlene Pickering went to fetch handset after argument with boyfriend
He begged her to return to platform
Friends post tributes on Twitter

By Arthur Martin and Nicola Jones

A young mother was killed by an express train after jumping on to the tracks to retrieve her mobile phone.

Charlene Pickering, 23, was arguing with boyfriend Daniel Pickett when she dropped the handset. It bounced several times on the platform before falling on to the tracks.

Mr Pickett begged her to get back on to the platform, but his pleas came too late as she was hit by a train travelling at 60mph.

Miss Pickering, from West Molesey, Surrey, was pronounced dead at the scene following the incident at Wimbledon station in south-west London at 7.30pm on Sunday.

She leaves behind a four-year-old son, Toby.

Before the accident, Miss Pickering and Mr Pickett had been to watch Chelsea beat Portsmouth in an FA Cup football match.

Police and rail bosses are studying CCTV images, which are thought to have captured the full horror of what happened.

A source close to the inquiry said: ‘The CCTV footage shows a young woman and her boyfriend arguing. She dropped her mobile phone which bounced on to the platform and on to the track.

‘She jumped down and got hit at 60mph. The boyfriend was shouting at her not to jump down.’


Alison Evans, British Transport Police Chief Inspector, said: ‘We believe at this stage that the woman went on to the tracks to retrieve her mobile phone before being struck by the train.

‘This appears to have been a tragic accident and our thoughts remain with the woman’s family at this very difficult and sad time for them.’

However, Miss Pickering’s step-father Guy Pollington said last night that the family did not believe she was looking for her phone.

He said their ‘world had been shattered’, adding: ‘Charlene was the light of our lives.’


Last year passengers called for a speed limit to be introduced through Wimbledon Station after there were three rush-hour deaths within four months


Miss Pickering’s mother Pamela was too upset to talk about her loss last night. Trains which pass through the station without stopping are allowed to travel at speeds of up to 75mph. Rail officials said there would have been ten express trains every hour on the evening of the accident.

Yesterday Mr Pickett, 23, left a moving tribute to his girlfriend on Facebook.

The pair met when they were pupils at Rydens School in Walton-on-Thames, but had only been a couple for four months. He wrote: ‘I would love to hear your voice just once more.

‘We had made so many plans and they have been so cruelly taken.

‘I will never forget you. Toby was so lucky to have you as a mum and he will be so proud of you and he will also make you proud.’

Other friends posted tributes on Twitter, with Lewis Brown writing: ‘I am lost for words, she was an amazing young mother.’

Andrew Kelly, a 23-year-old councillor from Walton-on-Thames, added: ‘Very shocked to hear of the death of an old school friend. Far, far too young.’ The tragedy has reignited calls for more safety measures.

James Turnbull, 39, from Merton, who commutes from the station, said: ‘Some of these trains that don’t stop at Wimbledon or the freight trains are so fast. It’s quite frightening.’

He said: ‘The coroner has said there is CCTV of her crouching down below the platform, the reasons for which we might never know.

‘No phone has ever been found.’