A CORONER has recorded an open verdict into the death of a Blandford woman who died in a collision with a train at a station in Germany.
Susanna Joy Vivian, a 51-year-old housewife from Blandford St Mary, died on June 20 last year at Sauerlach train station in Munich after an incident where witnesses described seeing her jump in front of a train arriving at the platform.
The hearing at County Hall in Dorchester heard that Mrs Vivian was living in Germany at the time and her husband Martin was working in Switzerland and that she had a history of depression.
In a statement, the driver of the Bavarian Railway train, Nico Ducho, said his train was “probably half way along the platform” when he saw the woman jump in front of it.
West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston, recording an open verdict, said: “The German police report may feel that she committed suicide and have said so and I have no reason to think what happened wasn’t of her own volition.
“But English law says a coroner has to have evidence of somebody’s intention to take their life before they can record a verdict of suicide.”
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