Grieving widower, 71, took his personal life on railway line weeks after surprising demise of his beloved spouse of 40 years – and left a notice saying he couldn’t stick with it with out her

A grieving widower took his own life on a railway line just weeks after losing his wife of 40 years, an inquest heard.

Geoffrey Evans, 71, walked out from his home in Plympton, Devon, late one night in July 2024 and made his way to the tracks near the Plymbridge Road overbridge.

Some time before dawn, he lay down on the line. A passing train – which has never been identified – struck him, and his body was only discovered the next morning when another driver spotted it in daylight.

Inside his Plympton home, Mr Evans left a note beside a photograph of his late wife, telling loved ones he could not go on without her. 

She had died unexpectedly just six weeks earlier.

Exeter Coroner’s Court heard yesterday that Mr Evans had been arrested on suspicion of drink driving on July 1 – one day before his 71st birthday and only three days before his death – after crashing his Audi into a parked car and a barrier. 

Geoffrey Evans, 71, walked out from his home in Plympton, Devon, late one night in July 2024 and made his way to the tracks near the Plymbridge Road overbridge (above) 

Police said he had been ‘a very nice man and polite’ during the arrest. He was released under investigation.

His stepdaughter, Lisa Conway, told the inquest the retired dockyard worker and her mother had spent four decades together and travelled the world. 

She said her mother’s sudden death had been ‘overwhelming’ for the man she considered her dad.

Assistant coroner Luisa Nicholson recorded a conclusion of suicide.