Loner's tragic final deed that killed six

By BARRIE CLEMENT and MATTHEW BEARD

A 48-year-old chef was revealed as the man who apparently committed suicide and caused the weekend Berkshire rail disaster in which six other people died.

Bryan Drysdale was named as the motorist who seemed to deliberately park his car in front of an oncoming First Great Western express.

As police continued their investigation into his background for clues to the disaster, a picture began to emerge of a loner who had held a number of manual jobs in recent years.

Drysdale drove straight from his shift at a local country club to the railway line, where less than 35 minutes later he was killed by the train.

He had been working in the kitchens at the Wokefield Park Conference Centre in Mortimer, Reading, on the day of the crash.

When his shift finished at 5.30pm local time - about the time the train left Paddington - he drove less than a kilometre to the level crossing in Ufton Nervet, where he parked his Mazda 323 Javelin across the tracks.

Almost 45 minutes later, the Paddington to Plymouth train smashed into his vehicle.

A spokesman for the Wokefield Park Conference Centre, at Wokefield Park Golf and Country Club, said: "We confirm that Brian Drysdale was a valued member of our catering team for the past 15 months and we are shocked by the news of his involvement in this terrible tragedy."

He had previously worked as a labourer in the Padworth and Mortimer area of Berkshire, near Ufton Nervet.

Members of Drysdale's family told police they were not aware that he was suffering from any form of depression.

Investigators believe that as he sat in his car at the level crossing he may have been "manoeuvring" the vehicle so that it had maximum impact with the oncoming train.

As engineers and accident investigators worked at the site of the devastation, details emerged of how a Royal Marine had crawled through broken glass to save the lives of some train passengers.

Warrant Officer Tom McPhee, 34, helped to keep seriously injured Sharmin Bacchus alive and conscious for 30 minutes until paramedics were able to reach her.

McPhee, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was in the buffet car queuing for a can of beer when the crash happened.

He was with his friend Brian Kelmsly, 35, who helped him save Sharmin, 37, and rescue several other injured passengers.

- INDEPENDENT