Freya James, 8, died hours after falling on wooden railway sleeper following collision with boy, west London inquest hears

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

An eight-year-old girl died after she was hit by a boy running at speed in a playground game and then fell on to a recycled railway sleeper, an inquest has heard.

Freya James was playing a game called Jails when one boy chasing another in the game Bulldog ran into her, a jury at west London coroner's court was told.

She then fell on to one of the wooden sleepers that were in the playground at Trafalgar junior school in Twickenham, south-west London.

Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield told the jury: "At lunchtime on 14 February this year children were in the playground to finish their break.

"There were a number of items of play equipment, furniture such as chairs, and some recycled railway sleepers. A number of staff supervise lunch play.

"There were a number of games going on, among them a game called Bulldog, and Jails, and Freya was playing Jails.

"At about 1.15pm, there was a collision between a boy who was playing Bulldog, and Freya.

"They were in different years, and may well not even have known each other to talk to.

"As a result, she fell, and in falling struck one of the sleepers that was in the playground."

A teaching assistant noticed her sitting on the floor surrounded by other girls. "She approached her and she said she had hurt her tummy."

Freya walked to a room used for first aid, and an ambulance was called.

The first paramedic arrived at 1.30pm, and an ambulance 10 minutes later.

Oxygen was given, and observations made, and she left in the ambulance at 1.50pm, arriving at 2pm at West Middlesex university hospital.

"You will hear of the efforts that were made to save her, but tragically she died just before 4pm that afternoon."

A postmortem examination showed injuries to her liver and spleen which were consistent with blunt force trauma.

"The conclusion was there was a liver laceration, which caused internal bleeding and that resulted in Freya's death."

The pathologist Dr Andreas Marnerides, of St Thomas's hospital, who carried out the postmortem, said the injuries were consistent with falling on the sleeper.

However, asked whether she would have sustained them if she fell on a flat playground, he said: "It might be the same type of trauma."

Asked if they were consistent with a collision between two children, he said: "No."

And asked if such incidents were common in playgrounds, he said: "I'm not aware of the exact statistical numbers, but I've seen it before."

Detective Inspector Andrew Dunn said the boy was interviewed by police.

"He said he and other boys were playing Bulldog, a game where children chase each other – it's a team game with lots of running around.

"He was chasing a specific other boy. He was running at speed through the playground.

"Asked how fast he was running, on a scale of one to 10, he said he was running at a speed of eight.

"He swerved to avoid a collision with one other child, and ran into a young girl who he later believed to be Freya.

"As a result of the impact, Freya fell on to a railway sleeper, and fell stomach and hand down."

Dunn said there was no sign that the boy was lying, and he was quite open in his answers.

"I have found no evidence of malice or criminal intent, and haven't submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service."

The inquest continues.