Man, in his 40s, is killed by train after escaping from custody van on way to court

By JAKE HOLDEN, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:14, 28 May 2026 | Updated: 20:15, 28 May 2026 A man was hit and killed by a train after escaping a custody van on the way to court from a police station. The 40-year-old broke out of the van as it had stopped on the A1(M) motorway and ran off this morning, police said. British Transport Police (BTP) officers rushed to the scene to search the surrounding area. They discovered the man's body on train tracks near Welwyn North railway station at 9.40am, just south of Stevenage. Formal identification is yet to take place, but the man's family has been told, Hertfordshire Police confirmed in a joint statement with the BTP. The van had been driving from the custody suite at Stevenage police station when a fight broke out at around 9am. The forces said two members of transport contractor staff were injured 'during an altercation in the van' and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.  In light of the man's death following his brief escape, Hertfordshire Police has referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Police swarmed to Welwyn North railway station where the man in his 40s was struck and killed by a train after escaping from a custody van on the way to court from the police station Police said that two transport contractors were injured in a fight in the van that broke out at 9am today before the man escaped. His body was discovered on the tracks at 9.45am A file has also been prepared for the coroner.  Police are still working 'to establish the full circumstances and officers will remain in the area while initial investigations continue', a spokesperson said. David Elsdon, 82, was overwhelmed by the number of police swarming his usually quiet village of Digswell nearby. It 'was all a bit of a shock', he told the BBC. 'We were just out the front ready to leave for the town and inundated with a number of police cars coming along,' he said. 'I think we passed 10 in total before we got out onto the main road.' Thameslink, LNER and Great Northern trains from London through Hertfordshire, Peterborough and Cambridgeshire faced delays earlier, but the line has since reopened. National Rail warned that some trains on the line could still be cancelled.  Thameslink confirmed that one of its trains had hit the man and advised those travelling by train to check their routes beforehand due to delays.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.