AN argument over a £10 note prompted a 20-year- old man to deliberately lay down on train tracks outside Petersfield station, waiting to be struck by a passenger train. Timothy Andrew Chandler, of Grange Road, Petersfield, had a history of self-harm and, under the influence of alcohol, took the decision to end his life on April 1 last year. The tragic tale was told at an inquest at Penns Place on Tuesday, with David Horsley, coroner for Portsmouth and South East Hampshire, referring to the unemployed labourer as leading "a troubled life since the age of 11". Prescribed with the antidepressant fluoxetine, toxicology reports stated no evidence of commonly used prescription drugs, although Mr Chandler had blood alcohol levels one-and-a-half times over the legal limit for driving a car. His injuries were entirely consistent with being run over by a train, the inquest heard. Sergeant Derek Bish, of British Transport Police, told of the incidents leading to Mr Chandler's death. On Sunday at his home, at around tea-time, his mother returned home after drawing out a £10 note from her bank. An argument ensued, with Timothy angered that the money went to his brother. "He went into his brother's bedroom and threw a computer around before snapping CDs. His mother suggested to him that he should get a job or go to college," said Sgt Bish. Mother Denise Chandler continued: "I thought he was still there at 6.30pm, but when I asked where he was I was told he had gone out." She continued – through tears at times – adding: "He was living in a squat shortly before coming back to me and had cuts on his arm – proper cuts, not fresh the size of a razor blade. "Also, apparently he tried to kill himself the week before on Portchester railway line. This was known to his friends but not his family. He tried to get on the railway line and they stopped it. "He never told me anything that was wrong in his life. He was just my lovely little boy." In a statement read by the coroner, Alan Wallbank, driver of the 18.26 Petersfield to Havant train, described an "uneventful day" until leaving Petersfield station. "I thought I saw something blowing across the track. The train was going at 40mph to 45mph. "I saw a young man lying in the footfall of the track with his head resting on one track and his feet on the other." After an emergency application of the brakes, it became clear to Mr Wallbank that the train was not going to stop before its deadly impact. "He would have had time to get out of the way, but he made no attempt to. I was very shocked and upset at the incident," he said. A further statement from Sonia Haines, who lives at an address close to the railway station, was also annotated. "I saw what I thought was a piece of wood," she said. "I realised it was a person when a kid sat up and I shouted 'no'. "After the train stopped, I asked the police officer if it was a person or a plank of wood. He shouted that it wasn't a plank of wood." Summarising, Mr Horsley remarked: "It is quite clear that Timothy had a difficult life for a number of reasons. He had this argument that day and went down to the railway tracks. "I don't think I can reach any other verdict, he meant to take his own life. "I am mindful of the fact that he had been prescribed drugs, and has taken his own life while suffering from depression." Verdict: Suicide.