Mother killed herself in train toilet fireball on 14th anniversary of day she stabbed her five-year-old son to death

Rachel James had previously spent 10 years in a mental hospital after stabbing her son Perry



She was travelling on a train from Northampton to London when she went to cubicle and set herself alight

A grieving mother burned to death after setting fire to herself in a train toilet - on the 14th anniversary of the day she killed her son.

Rachel James had spent 10 years in a mental hospital after stabbing her 5-year-old son Perry to death.

She had been released to live alone in the community and was travelling on a train from Northampton to London when she went into a cubicle and set herself alight after pouring petrol over herself, an inquest heard today.

Tragic: Rachel James, left, burned to death after setting fire to herself in a train toilet on the 14th anniversary of the day she killer her son Perry, right



The fire brought the train to a halt just to the north of Leighton Buzzard station in Bedfordshire.

The overhead power lines were switched off and other passengers were evacuated.



Firefighters put out the blaze on Monday April 11.



Passenger Christopher Gardener told Bedfordshire Deputy Coroner Bob Amos that he was sitting in a carriage with his back to the toilet wall.



A younger woman was in the toilet when Ms James asked him if it was occupied. He said Ms James, who had long blonde hair and was well tanned, waited and the two women walked past each other.

He said: 'Shortly afterwards there was a whooshing noise that was ever so powerful. A flash flame went past me very, very quickly . It must have passed by my side. There were no injuries to me.

Horrific: The fire involving Rachel James brought this train to a halt just to the north of Leighton Buzzard station in Bedfordshire

'I thought there had been a terrible accident. I went to the toilet door and flames were coming out. The door appeared to be locked.

'She was screaming, not for help but screaming in agony. I couldn’t open the door. I banged on it and rattled the lock.'



Mr Gardener said he pulled the emergency stop button and jumped out of the safe side of the train, running to the front to alert the driver. He said thick black smoke was coming from the carriage.

When aged 29 Ms James had been charged with the murder of Perry and attempted murder of his 9 year old brother Aaron in an attack on April 11 1997.



She appeared at Watford magistrates court and was sent to a psychiatric hospital.

The single mother - who was then called Helen Philips - stabbed Perry to death and stabbed Aaron and battered him with a hammer after snapping under the pressure of debts at their flat in Northend, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.



The first her neighbours knew of the tragedy was when she appeared in the window of her flat with Perry’s lifeless body in her arms.

Death: Rachel James stabbed and killed her son Perry at their flat in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, which is pictured in 1997

She had threatened to turn on the gas and blow the house up if anyone came near.

Police got into the flat to find Perry dead. An ambulance rushed the older boy to hospital with stab wounds to his head.

The inquest heard the 43-year-old, who was living in a council flat in Whitehall Road, Uxbridge, West London had been deeply troubled about the death of Perry.

Her friend Marlene Glover said Ms James had stayed with her and her husband John in Milton Keynes the previous night and they had agreed to accompany her as far as Leighton Buzzard on her return back to London on the train.

Mrs Glover said : 'She said it was the 14th anniversary of her son’s death. She seemed ok but was depressed about the anniversary. She said: "I have got to face it."'



She said Ms James had told her that she had been told that she had tried to contact her older son but had been told he did not want to see her.



'Family life was something she wanted but could not have. She had tried to kill herself a year before. It was Mother’s Day a week before this happened and it was the anniversary of her son’s death.'



The impression they had of Ms James was that she feared that she was going to have to go back to hospital.

John Glover told the hearing: 'I think she was a little bit paranoid and thought that the Mental Health People were after her.

'That is why she wanted us to go on the train with her to Leighton Buzzard as that was the only stop before London.

In recording a verdict of suicide, Deputy Coroner Bob Amos said: 'Rachel James experienced trauma and loss in life to a degree that any normal man or woman would find difficult to comprehend.

Detained: Rachel James - then called Helen Philips - is pictured being arrested by police officers in 1997

'She suffered a profound psychotic episode in 1997 in which she took the life of her child. I understand it was her intention in the same event to take her own life.

'She was convicted of manslaughter and detained under the Mental Health Act.

'She recovered significantly in the following years but she never recovered that which she wanted most, a family life.

'Her son (Aaron) was estranged and her two children born subsequently to that terrible event were adopted, removed into care straight from birth.

'One can only imagine the consequence the emotional trauma that caused with the father. In November 2006 he took his own life by setting fire to himself.

'In early 2011 she attempted to speak to her son (Aaron) but it came to nought.

'I do find that in effect she was saying farewell to them.

'She was in the cubicle for a very short period of time, at most 60 seconds.

'She had time to do little more than complete the necessary physical actions in order to set fire to herself. She must have made up her mind resolutely before entering the cubicle.



'I do conclude that she took her own life.'



The cause of death was 'incineration.'