Boy, 12, pleads with mother to get off rail tracks seconds before she is killed by train

A boy of 12 began a desperate race to save his mother after finding a suicide note at their home.

Veronica Bell's son Jordan sped on his bike to the nearby train station, where he found her jumping down from the platform on to the track.

He pleaded with 41-year-old Mrs Bell not to kill herself for the sake of his two little sisters, whom she had just dropped at school.

The youngster's emotional appeal seemed to have worked and the mother of seven got out of the way of one train.

But as she tried to climb back up to safety, Jordan saw a second one hit her.

The driver of the trans-Pennine express put on the emergency brakes and sounded a warning after spotting her on the track 100 yards ahead, but could not stop in time.

Mrs Bell was said to be depressed after being arrested for an alleged assault on a 20-year-old man during a party at her home earlier this month.

An inquest will be held but relatives believe she was trying to get off the track when she died.

British Transport Police have launched an investigation into the tragedy which happened at 10.30am on Thursday at Manchester's Belle Vue Station.

Jordan's older brother Chris Clark, 19, said the youngster followed her to the station a few hundred yards away from their home in Gorton after becoming concerned by the note which ended with the words 'I'm going soon.'

Veronica Bell was hit by a train at Manchester's Belle Vue Station

He said: 'He knew something was wrong and had followed her. Jordan was talking to her, telling her to think of his sisters. She told him she was scared.

'From what he has told me, one train came by but she got out of the way. She just couldn't do it.

'He was talking to her and she seemed she was going to get back on the platform. She had put her bag back up. Then another train came and she looked round  -  and screamed.'

Mr Clark said his brother was traumatised. 'He was a mummy's boy, really protective of his mum, and followed her everywhere. He is devastated.'

Mrs Bell had been arrested over an assault at the family home on July 6. She was celebrating her 41st birthday with family members when a fracas broke out involving a knife. A man was treated for stab wounds which were not life threatening.

Mr Clark said his mother had never been arrested before and feared her younger children  -  aged between nine and 15  -  would be taken away from her.

'She was always a happy mum who lived for her children,' said Mr Clark. 'After she was arrested she just wasn't herself. She may be gone but she will never be forgotten.'