Open verdict on boy's rail death

Jonathan was a year 11 pupil at Bryntirion High School

An open verdict has been returned by a jury at the inquest into the death of a teenager on a railway line.

Jonathan Reynolds, 15, from Bridgend, was killed by a train after lying on train tracks at Pencoed station in January 2006.

The inquest heard he had been bullied during his time at school and had been teased at Bryntirion Comprehensive school about his sexuality.

But his family said they did not believe bullying was a factor.

The inquest was held at Merthyr Tydfil.

Witnesses had reported seeing Jonathan walk onto a track and lie down before a passenger train.

'Very popular'

After his death, his parents Mark and Caroline Reynolds said in a statement that words could not express their "shock and grief".

They said Jonathan was a "much-loved, fun-loving and very bright young man who had an exciting future life ahead of him".

At the time of his death, the school's head teacher described it as one of the "most difficult days in the school's history" and that from all indications, Jonathan, a year 11 pupil, was happy at school.

Jonathan was described as a "very popular pupil".