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Southern Daily Echo
5:00pm Saturday 1st December 2012
ECHO NEWS
A SOUTHAMPTON student killed himself on a Hampshire railway line, an inquest heard.
Arran Cook, 20, was hit by a train at Shawford station, near Winchester, on June 26.
The inquest heard that the Southampton City College student, who lived in Orchard Lane, Southampton, was suffering from depression. He was taking medication and receiving counselling.
His father David Cook, 52, of Twyford, near Winchester, said that he did not know about his son’s depression but said that they had a strong relationship.
He said: “Arran was my beautiful, much-loved son and also my dear friend and companion.
“He had developed a very strong sense of social justice and would consistently champion the underdog and the oppressed.
“He was simply good to be with.”
Arran’s best friend David Southgate, of Shawford, who had known him since the age of 12, added that Arran had anxiety issues and often struggled with social situations.
A jury, which decides all deaths on railway lines, returned a verdict of suicide at the inquest in Winchester.