An 11-year-old schoolboy who was hit and killed by a train as he walked to class was distracted by his new smartphone, an inquest has concluded.
Jaiden Shehata, a Year 7 student at Riddlesdown Collegiate in South Croydon, died while on the ‘high-risk’ level crossing near Kenley, south London, on January 23 last year.
He would usually have been accompanied by his 18-year-old brother, Reece, but had set off for school 20 minutes earlier than normal that day.
Jaiden, who had started at the school four months before, walked into the path of an oncoming London-bound train at the Bourneview crossing, despite the driver sounding the horn while approaching the crossing.
The promising young footballer and Chelsea fan was not wearing headphones at the time.
At the inquest into Jaiden’s death, Sarah Ormond-Walshe, senior coroner at South London Coroner’s Court, said Jaiden was ‘doing something which was very much normal behaviour by all of us’, adding that ‘everybody’ gets distracted by their phones.
The schoolboy was struck by the train at 8.03am.
He was found by a police officer at 8.18am before paramedics arrived a few minutes later, and pronounced dead at 8.52am.
Jaiden Shehata died while on the ‘high risk’ level crossing near Kenley, south London last year
The promising young footballer and Chelsea fan, was not wearing headphones at the time
A jury concluded on Thursday afternoon that the cause of his death was that he ‘did not perceive the danger of the train approaching, probably because he was distracted by his mobile phone’, and added that a lack of warning at the crossing also contributed to the accidental death.
His medical cause of death was recorded as ‘severe neck injuries’.
Ms Ormond-Walshe told Jaiden’s family: ‘Everybody, everybody, looks at their phone. So please, let that go because every single person in this room does that, and he was only 11 years old. Thank you so much for your dignity. It must have been so difficult.’
She said that she would write a report in an effort to prevent something similar from happening again.
Summing up the evidence, Ms Ormond-Walshe said: ‘Jaiden had been using this route to school since September 2024; four months. He normally walked to school with his older brother, but that day, he was by himself.’
CCTV showed Jaiden holding a ‘glowing object in his hands’ right before he was struck by the train, Paul Tickner, a Rail Accident Investigation Branch investigator said.
The inquest previously heard that Jaiden was watching an eight-second video his friend sent him on WhatsApp when he was struck.
Ms Ormond-Walshe said: ‘Mr Tickner said it was important to have a change of environment, something distinct when a pedestrian was going across the level [crossing].
The youngster was walking to Riddlesdown Collegiate in south Croydon and had used the crossing most days
The crossing was ranked by Network Rail as C4 – described at the hearing as meaning ‘high’ risk
‘He agreed with me that the use of mobile phones was increasing. Jaiden was doing something which was very much normal behaviour by all of us.’
The jury found that Jaiden died an accidental death.
The foreperson told the court: ‘Firstly, Jaiden did not perceive the danger of the train approaching the crossing, probably because he was distracted by his mobile phone.
‘The second probable cause of the accident was that Bourneview was a passive crossing, which was not fitted with active warning systems giving a visual and auditory warning of the train’s approach.
‘A possible further cause was that the design and construction of the crossing could have made it more obvious to pedestrians that they were entering a hazardous area.’
The jury had previously heard that it took seven months for Network Rail to close the level crossing, which was scheduled for safety improvements at the time of the tragedy.
It had been ranked by Network Rail as C4 – described at the hearing as meaning ‘high’ risk.
But the firm’s head of level crossing and safety, Daniel Fisk, told the jury the Bourneview crossing was ‘compliant’ with its standards at the time of the tragedy.
He said Network Rail didn’t have the legal authority to close the crossing and had to obtain permission from Croydon Council, as it was a public right of way.
He conceded its eventual closure was driven more by a petition from the family than ‘Network Rail’s view’.
A Network Rail risk assessment in 2023 identified possible changes that could have made it safer.
These included better signage and ‘miniature stop lights’ with red and green indicators.
By December 2024 – a month before Jaiden’s death – designs were being drawn up for the crossing, which has been ranked the 13th most dangerous footpath on Network Rail’s Sussex route out of 111.
The coroner said there had been ‘approximately one near-miss per year at Bourneview’.
That work was completed earlier this year, but the crossing remains closed as Network Rail wants to complete ‘more engagement with local schools’ about rail safety before reopening it.
Ms Ormond-Walshe said: ‘Jaiden died in January 2025. The most recent risk assessment conducted on the Bourneview level crossing was completed a year and eight months before his death.
‘The work was planned for March 2026 – two years, nine months from the time of the risk assessment – and this was found by the RAIB to be an acceptable amount of time to put in recommended changes.’
