14 DAY TRIAL // British footballer Gareth Stringfellow was just 18 years old when he suffered a horrific death, falling 20ft onto a railway track from a bridge, then having his body ripped to pieces by as many as 40 passing express trains.
Stringfellow had gone out with friends and teammates the night before, and was seen walking home alone, in his home town of Chorley, Lancashire, the Daily Mail reports.
Witnesses stated that the teenage boy had consumed large amounts of alcohol before the incident. Further tests revealed an 160 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood concentration at the time he was found.
The footballer was being scouted by Northern Premier league club Kendal Town, and was considered a rising star.
“He was one of the youngest players to play in the Northern Premier League at 16 when he moved to Kendal. His manager told us it would only be a matter of time before he was going to be snapped up by a professional football league club again. [...] Football kept him on the straight and narrow. But he also had so many friends, He never wanted to be in and was out playing with his mates. Football was his life ever since he was little,” Stringfellow's father said.
The accident that put an end to his life happened last June. He had been out with buddy Daniel Ashton and his girlfriend. Ashton confessed to the fact that they were drinking that night.
“We got some beers and he got some rose wine. He got some cans as well. […] We had a drink and had a laugh. It was just myself Amy and Gareth. He was happy. I didn’t think anything like this would happen ever. We had been just talking about our lives and a long chat,” Ashton stated.
At around 5.30am, Gareth left Ashton's house and head it home, crossing the bridge over the train station. British Transport Police believe he climbed the parapet of the bridge, after finding his footprints there.
“From my experience I would say that he climbed up onto the parapet and I would suggest the fall onto the track killed him,” inspector David Howell, of the British Transport Police said.
He was hit by the 6.24am train traveling from Preston to London. Over the following 2 hours, 40 other locomotives ran over his remains until one of the drivers realized someone had been hurt, raised the alarm and stopped to see what had happened.