A TALENTED artist who was found by police covered in mud and in a “confused” mental state on a busy dual carriageway road died the following morning after being hit by a train, an inquest has heard.

Officers took Robert Jones, aged 25, from Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, to St Cadoc’s Hospital in Newport after finding him walking beside the A465 near Abergavenny on September 27, 2019.

But Newport Coroners Court heard that he died the next day when he emerged from undergrowth beside a train track near Caerleon shortly after 8am and was struck by a passenger train.

Giving evidence, PC Elliot Morgan of Gwent Police said a witness had spotted Mr Jones around mid-day in a field the day before, and said he appeared “very confused, scared for his life and covered with mud”.

Police then received a report of a man walking along the A465 dual carriageway, where they found him in a ”confused” state.

He told PC Morgan he had come to the area to attend a funeral, but couldn’t explain why he was covered in mud or walking beside the road.

He had several train tickets for journeys from Haverfordwest to Newport and Shrewsbury, and said he had left the train because people had been “trying to chase him and kill him,” though he couldn’t recall coming to Abergavenny.

The officer told the court he mentioned a “bridge in Haverfordwest”, and he thought Mr Jones was “paranoid” and suffering mental health issues.

He believed Mr Jones’ walking along a busy dual carriageway and bridge comments meant he was having suicidal thoughts.

And having consulted a mental health practitioner at Gwent Police, PC Morgan and his colleague then took Mr Jones to St Cadoc’s Hospital in Newport under section 136 of the Mental Health Act where he was “informally” admitted.

A statement by his mother Sharon Harris described her son as a “kind, warm-hearted man” who had a “happy childhood” but had been diagnosed with dyslexia.

She said: ”He excelled at artwork and had a real talent for art.”

Ms Harris added that he had texted her asking how she was on the morning of his death, and she had been due to pick him up later that day.

“He was my friend as well as my only child and I miss him so much,” she said.

Eleanor Sparshott, a deputy ward manager at St Cadoc’s Hospital, told the inquest Mr Jones spoke about “hearing voices in his head” after agreeing to be admitted overnight before returning home next day.

Later after walking out of the hospital, he was brought back but got out through a car window before being returned to the ward.

Dr Deepak Megeri, who was a locum consultant psychiatrist at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board at the time, said he assessed Mr Jones as “high risk of being vulnerable and making impulsive decisions.”

Dr James Harrison, a consultant pathologist, confirmed Mr Jones had died from “injuries consistent with being struck by a train.”

The inquest continues.