A 14-year-old girl stepped in front of a train after her stepbrother confronted a classmate accused of bullying her, an inquest heard yesterday.

Kay Miller, who suffered from anorexia and a borderline personality disorder, panicked after her brother, a Welsh Guardsman, pushed the alleged bully over a wall and warned him to leave her alone.

Kay’s stepfather, Tim Hillard, told the inquest that Kay, her younger sister, Chloe, and his son, Geraint, 22, were all walking home from a local shop when they spotted Kay’s classmate, Scott Walker.

Geraint had spent the afternoon of last August 27 drinking with his father after returning from duty in Bosnia.

Mr Hillard said: “We were walking along and Geraint, playing big brother, was looking after Kay because she was a bit edgy. We saw Scott Walker who had in the past bullied Kay and her younger sister as well.

“He asked the first boy if he was Scott Walker and he said, ‘No’. He asked the second boy if he was Scott Walker and he said, ‘Yes’, so he pushed him over a wall and said, ‘Leave Kay alone’ and ‘I don’t want to see you near her again’.”

Mr Hillard said that a “hoo-ha” developed as Scott’s friends gathered and the police were called. Mr Hillard told Kay and her sister Chloe, 10, to go home as he was being put into a police car. They were walking home when Kay ran off.

The inquest in Cardiff was shown a still photograph of the schoolgirl emerging from bushes at the side of the railway line to stand facing the train as it approached at 40mph. Mary Hassell, the coroner, apologised to Kay’s family for showing it in court but said it was of “great probative value” to the jury.

Detective Sergeant David Goddard, of the British Transport Police, who investigated the death, described the CCTV footage of her death as “haunting”. He said: “She appears to walk quite calmly into the area between the two running lines. She stands in what can only be described as a haunting manner with her arms by her side and the train runs over her.

“The train collides with her and carries on for some distance. You can actually see the train rocking as the emergency brakes are applied.”

The driver, Paul Spencer, said that he spotted Miss Miller only about 20 yards before impact as she was crouching behind some undergrowth. He said: “I put the brakes on immediately and I blasted the horn hoping she would react but she just stood there with her arms by her side.”

Kay’s body was found by Mr Hilliard, who had been released by police in order to look for her. He had previously found her on the railway line near the spot where she later died after an earlier attempted suicide.

Mr Hilliard arrived seconds too late to save her. He said: “I heard the train and went up the embankment, pushed through the brambles and that is where I saw Kay on the floor.

“I called to get Kay off the line. I tried to get her up . . . wake her up. She was lying on the line. I knew then that she was dead.”

The inquest heard that the teenager had suffered from “borderline personality disorder” for six years. But she was tackling her problems and had lectured to more than 300 people on her eating disorder.

Mr Hillard said: “There was a black monster inside her. It used to take over. She did not want to, but this monster pushed her to do these things.

“She had made attempts on her life before by slashing her wrists, by taking an overdose and by going to the railway line but she was a good kid. She loved cuddles with her mum.”

Kay was a pupil of Llanishen High School in Cardiff and was in the same class as Scott Walker, the boy accused of bullying her.

In a written statement her sister, Chloe, said: “I was with Kay, my stepdad and Geraint when we saw Scott Walker.

“He was in Kay’s class at school and he was saying things to her. Geraint went over and said, ‘Leave Kay alone.’ More of Scott’s friend’s came along. Scott’s sister slapped Geraint across the face. But he didn’t react. Tim told us to go home but Kay just ran away crying. She was a bit hysterical.”

A postmortem examination by a doctor, Richard Jones, at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, showed that Kay died from blunt-force trauma to the head and chest.

The inquest continues.

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