A burglar notorious for making his getaways along

A burglar notorious for making his getaways along railway
tracks was killed by a train after a tipsy night out house-
breaking, an inquest was told today Wednesday.

Carvel O’Brien was struck by a BR train near Clapham High
Street Station clutching a swag bag of goods he had just stolen
from a house on Guy Fawkes night.

A jury at Southwark Coroners Court returned a verdict of
misadventure on the 52-year-old veteran raider.

His ex-wife Mrs Christine Flynn, of Lydhurst Road, Brixton,
told the inquest O’Brien – who was wanted for a string of
burglaries at the time of his death – would prey on homes
near railway lines because he liked to use the tracks
for his getaways.

She said he was brought up by the railway line in Dagenham –
where he was born on February 20, 1940 – ‘and he used to boast he
could tell a train was coming just by standing on the tracks.

‘
Brixton-bound train driver Edward Mumford told the hearing
he heard a thud against the front of his engine and stopped
the train.

Mr.

Mumford, a train driver for 28 years, said: ‘It’s not
unusual to feel a bump against the engine now and then but
I was surprised to find a body.

‘
He discovered O’Brien, from Camberwell Road, Camberwell,
lying dead on the line at 9.

10pm with his haul of cameras, jewellery
and watches by his side.

Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd gave the cause of
death as multiple abdominal injuries from which he would
have died instantly.

He also said he had drunk the alcohol equivalent of four
pints of beer.

Coroner Sir Montague Levene, who offered his personal
sympathy to the dead man’s family, remarked: ‘He may have known
the railway line, weaving his way across the tracks, but the
alcohol he had taken obviously reduced his reflexes.

‘
The inquest was told that a police investigation revealed
that he had taken advantage of Guy Fawke’s night when police
are busy and home owners are in their gardens.

He had broken into a house at Ferndale Road, near the
train station, while victim Shaun Bacon was out at a fireworks
display.

When he returned home he found his home had been ransacked.

Ex-wife Mrs Flynn added: ‘We all knew he was a burglar.

He was not a good boy.

He has done many naughty things in his life
but if he had been given the chance of a job he would have taken it.

‘
PC Neil Barnes confirmed to the inquest that O’Brien had a
number of previous convictions for burglaries committed alongside
railway lines.

ENDS
LLLL