A distraught mother who tried to haul herself and her autistic son into the path of a moving train while locked in a bitter custody feud with her ex-husband has been jailed for three years.
Andrea Reid, 53, was determined to stop any contact between her son Daniel, 20, who has Global Development Delay Disorder, and his father Paul Barker.
After learning her vulnerable son had confided to a solicitor that he wanted to see his father, Reid sent him a series of ‘petulant’ texts saying it was ‘his choice’ but she was ‘very angry’.
Things came to a head on July 26 last year, when Reid tried to drag Daniel into the path of a freight train travelling at 45mph at Handforth Railway Station, near Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Andrea Reid, 53, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, has been jailed for three years after trying to throw herself and her son Daniel, 20, in the path of a moving train
Daniel, who attends a special needs school, realised the danger when the train driver sounded his horn and managed to pull them both to safety a split second before the locomotive passed them.
When police were called to the scene, Reid was found sat on a set of steps in a ‘hysterical state.’
She told an officer: ‘I know the manipulation and the way it’s going to go and I just don’t want to relive it all again.
‘Tonight I just had enough, I don’t want to live and I don’t want him to live with this life. We went to the track, and then a fast train came and I went to pull him, I tried to kill myself and my son. Some mother I am.’
She explained her actions by referring to her ex-husband, insisting, ‘he’s winning and he’s winning all the time,’ a belief which the judge later categorised as ‘warped thinking’.
Daniel is now living with his elderly grandmother.
Reid, of Wilmslow, appeared at Chester Crown Court, where she admitted attempted murder.
She wept after the judge told her she had ‘a lot to live for’ and was passed a string of character references from friends including her local MP, former Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.
Reid was arrested shortly at Wilmslow Rail Station shortly after the incident on July 26 last year (Pictured: Reid handcuffed to an officer outside Chester Crown Court)
The court heard the mother-of-two had been in a volatile relationship with Mr Barker and police had attended their former home in Rochdale on various occasions.
Eventually, he left with the couple’s younger son but social services were alerted after Reid moved to Wilmslow with Daniel ‘for a fresh start’ and refused to let her ex-husband have any contact.
She pressured her son into saying he wanted no contact with his father and spent £16,000 fighting legal proceedings in the Court of Protection – only to discover Daniel had spoken to a solicitor saying he wanted to see his father.
It was at this point she began texting angry messages to the youngster, in the days leading up to the near fatality.
She told her son: ‘Do what you want – I don’t care. You think you will have a good life with dad. I think it best if I go away and leave you to be with your dad and happy. Then you can do what you want without me.’
Another message read: ‘Could not sleep. I’m so tired of all this Dan. It’s not fair. Me and you are over. You have seen me sick yet you kept lying to me. You really hurt me. Bet you have changed your mind again. Bet you have texted dad and emailed him. You make me look stupid.’
Later that afternoon Reid went to collect Daniel from his adult learning centre before telling friends about the situation, who warned her not to do ‘anything drastic’.
The attempted murder took place at Wilmslow train Station in Cheshire
The pair went to a park and then the Freemason’s Arms pub in Handforth, where Reid drank four double vodka and cokes before taking her son to the nearby railway station.
After the incident, Reid phoned a friend to confess she had just tried to throw herself and Daniel under a moving train before texting another friend saying: ‘I’ve just tried to kill me and Dan.’
Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said: ‘She told police that she had had a bad week because of the Court of Protection proceedings and Daniel kept coming home upset.
‘She said she had been feeling low for some time and was upset because Daniel didn’t see how his father was “manipulating” him. She described her marriage as coercive and abusive and alleged that her ex-husband had started being violent to her parents and was removed by the police.
‘Daniel’s father suggests that any domestic abuse within the relationship came from the defendant and that she deliberately removed Daniel to a new area to prevent his ongoing contact with is son.
‘In fact, Mr Barker was in shock and desperation after learning what happened at the station… He felt there must be a mistake because he always trusted his former wife to look after Daniel.
‘He said Daniel is a loving and trusting young man and extremely vulnerable.
‘He says due to his special needs, Daniel would struggle to articulate and fully understand what has happened.’
Reid appeared at Chester Crown Court, where she was jailed for three years for attempted murder
In mitigation, defence counsel Sarah Badrawy said Reid was struggling emotionally and that her mental health had deteriorated to a low point on the day in question.
She added that Reid now accepted Daniel would have a relationship with his father.
Passing sentence, Judge Simon Berkson said: ‘This can properly be described as a tragic case. No doubt, following the divorce you have been very unhappy with Daniel seeing his father but it became an obsession, taking over your whole life.
‘What you did next was the most terrible thing… When police arrived you were hysterical. You went to tell the police that your ex-husband was winning. You felt that he would not win if you killed your son. That was warped thinking.
‘You have a brave and strong son in Daniel, who not only saved himself but your life as well. From what I have read you and he have a lot to live for.
‘No one who knows you would have expected you to have done what you have done, mainly because of the way you doted on him and because they regarded you as a good mother to Daniel.
‘It is very fortunate that there’s no physical harm caused to Daniel, who is rightly described as extremely vulnerable. You were the primary carer for Daniel and you clearly enjoyed a close relationship. That is lost to both of you now due to your actions on that day.’
Following the hearing, Det Sgt Graham Marshall-Batey from British Transport Police said: ‘This was a complex and distressing case for all involved and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the officers for their sensitivity in investigating the incident.’
- For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
