Boy killed 'after lying on track'

Jonathan Mark Reynolds died at Pencoed station

The head teacher of a 15-year-old boy who died after apparently lying on a railway track has paid tribute to a "very likeable pupil".

Jonathan Mark Reynolds died at Pencoed station, near Bridgend, when he was hit by a train on Wednesday night.

Alwyn Thomas, head of Bryntirion Comprehensive, Bridgend, said it was one of the "most difficult days in the school's history".

Police said they were not treating Jonathan's death as suspicious.

Ambulance duty officer Steve Cooper said a report was received just before 2030 GMT of a boy jumping in front of a train.

But he said a witness later reported that the boy walked on to the track and lay down. Paramedics were at the scene for just over an hour.

He was a very mature pupil and a very intelligent pupil and we had great hopes for Jonathan Head teacher Alwyn Thomas

The driver of the train was treated for shock.

Mr Thomas said staff and pupils at the school were "distressed and very upset". He told BBC Radio Wales that pupils had coped "remarkably well with what has been a very difficult situation".

"Pupils have got together and they've comforted one another, with the support of counsellors and people from the LEA - who've been remarkable in their support on what has been probably one of the most difficult days in the school's history," he said.

"Jonathan was a very, very likeable pupil. He was a very popular pupil.

"He was a very mature pupil and a very intelligent pupil and we had great hopes and great aspirations for Jonathan in terms of his performance in the GCSE examinations this year."

A South Wales Police spokesman said two officers were on patrol outside the Bryntirion school gates in order to reassure the public after such a tragedy.

Officers were also inside talking to pupils, teachers and the head teacher to try to find out more about exactly how the teenager came to be on the railway line .

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "The circumstances are being investigated but we are not treating the death as suspicious."