A SLOVAKIAN lorry driver died on railway lines near Welshpool shortly after entering the UK, an inquest has heard.

Pavol Maly, 28, died on May 12 on a section of railway near Halfway House shortly after 9pm.

An inquest at Shirehall in Shrewsbury on Thursday, August 26, concluded that Mr Maly, originally from Trebisov in the former Czechoslovakia, had committed suicide.

Senior coroner for Shropshire, John Ellery, heard how on the evening of May 12, British Transport Police were contacted by Network Rail to report that a person had been struck by a passenger train.

The ambulance service attended the scene and Mr Maly was declared dead at 9.55pm.

The inquest heard how Mr Maly, who entered the UK on May 8, had started work for the day on May 11, and had been seen by company boss Mark Swain on the road.

The following morning, when they noticed his truck was in the yard, staff assumed Mr Maly had left the company, but Mr Swain was later informed by police officers that Mr Maly had died.

Mr Ellery recorded a conclusion of suicide, based on a text message from Mr Maly to his mother before his death.

He said: "By his actions it is clear that he intended to kill himself and any doubt is removed by a text message to his mother that he intended to take his own life.

"Based on that evidence I record a conclusion of suicide."

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