Drunk man sleeping on tracks escapes death after train runs over him

Updated
Drunk man sleeping on tracks escapes death after train runs over him
Drunk man sleeping on tracks escapes death after train runs over him


A drunken man was run over by a train when he laid down to sleep on a railway line - and survived.

After a heavy drinking session, William McNeil, 51, stumbled onto the tracks outside Blackburn railway station and nodded off.

Preston Crown Court heard that the train driver sounded his horn and slammed on the emergency brake but the train did not stop and went over McNeil at 50mph.

According to the Daily Mail, the traumatised driver was sure he was dead and went to investigate but found no corpse.

The man, from Blackburn, escaped with just a cut to his head.

He was found walking in a road nearby and was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital, while drunk and confused.

When police asked him how drunk he was on a scale of one to 10, he said: "11".

The Lancashire Telegraph reports that McNeil was jailed for eight months for the offence.

Bob Elias, prosecuting, said: "Probably every train driver's worst nightmare was someone wandering or trespassing in front of them and being knocked down and run over by his train."

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