A man out on day release from a mental health ward jumped in front of a train after ditching his friend in a pub.

Gerard Naughton, 58, a court clerk from Putney, was on a day out from a psychiatric ward at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, when he abandoned his friend in a pub and took his own life.

Police and ambulance services were called to Wimbledon station at 1.46pm to reports of a person struck by a train on Saturday, October 5.

Mr Naughton served in the civil service for most of his professional life and was a passionate fan of horse-racing.

He suffered from periods of ill mental health, brought on by horrors he heard as a court clerk in the family courts of Wandsworth County Court.

After an earlier attempt to commit suicide by taking a drug overdose he was admitted to psychiatric care.

Mr Naughton had been out with his good friend, Andrew Rankin, on the day he died.

Mr Rankin, who met Mr Naughton at a spanish language course in Putney in 1978, said: "Mr Naughton was my oldest friend. He was a likeable, friendly person who would help anybody."

The hearing on Thursday, March 13, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London concluded Mr Naughton took his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed.