Father's tribute to public schoolboy killed on rail line at New Year

Sam Griffiths, 16, was killed when he tripped on the 750-volt live rail in front of horrified friends - less than an hour after a telephone conversation with his father.

It is thought the talented rugby player had been wandering on the tracks near Burgess Hill station, close to the £22,000-a-year Hurstpierpoint College, West Sussex, where he was studying for his A-levels.

Ambulance crews attended the scene at 1.30am on New Year's Day after friends raised the alarm, but Sam could not be saved.

Today his father, Ian, a business journalist for The Guardian, told of the last time he spoke to his "devoted" son.

Mr Griffiths, 54, of Chiswick, said: "There are no words to explain how I feel. People ask if there is anything they can do but the one thing I need they can't do - bring Sam back. I spoke to him after 12.30am to say happy New Year and he was calm and relaxed. He said, 'I love you dad'. I said I loved him and told him to take care. Typically, he ignored what I'd said to him. It was a tragic accident."

British Transport Police officers have been examining CCTV footage in a bid to piece together Sam's final moments. They say the death is not suspicious.

Mr Griffiths said his son was "full of energy". He also told of the devastation of the teenager's sister, Kate, 13, and his mother, Mr Griffiths' former wife, Christian Kerr. Mr Griffiths said: "His sister feels really cheated by this - we all do. He will be looking down at us so upset at all the grief he has caused - that was not his plan. Sam was bright but I think he wanted to be a 40-year-old gap year student. He just enjoyed playing rugby and having a laugh.

"We never realised he had so many friends. His death has affected hundreds of people."

The teenager was a weekly boarder at the 140-acre Hurstpierpoint College, where he had started in September after finishing his GCSEs at Brighton College. More than 1,000 of his friends have set up groups on a social networking website to call for a lasting memorial. Around 150 visited the station on Friday to leave flowers and written tributes.

The headteacher at Hurstpierpoint College saluted Sam as a gifted rugby player and actor. Tim Manly said: "He was a lovely young man, full of life and with a gentle, friendly manner, and his outgoing nature ensured he soon established himself as a very popular, much-loved and valued member of the school community."

British Transport Police chief inspector Alison Palmer said: "This would appear to have been a tragic accident. Sam was with a group of friends at the station around 1.30am and it appears he was trespassing on the tracks when he tripped and fell on to the live rail.

"The live rail carries 750 volts of electricity and it's switched on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We educate thousands of young people every year about the dangers of electricity on the railways. It's such a tragedy that we begin 2009 with the loss of a young life."