A popular tattoo artist with a "heart of gold" had enjoyed a day out with his friends before tragically being electrocuted on railway tracks.

Joshua Dockerty, from Margate, suffered a cardiac arrest from the high voltage shock at Ramsgate station, causing a severe brain injury due to lack of oxygen.

The 28-year-old died four days later in King's College Hospital in London.

During an inquest at County Hall in Maidstone, it was heard how the dad-of-two had been to Folkestone on September 14 with a group of five friends, who had spent the day celebrating a birthday drinking alcohol and playing football and golf.

CCTV footage from the train home from Folkestone to Ramgate showed the group in "high spirits" - drinking, snorting a powder "presumed to be cocaine" and taking nitrous oxide balloons.

Coroner Katrina Hepburn said the friends were intoxicated, but keeping themselves to themselves, on what seemed a "joyful journey" after a "fantastic day".

But when the train pulled into Ramsgate station at 5.50pm, Mr Dockerty got off and ran to the front of the train, before disappearing onto the tracks and being electrocuted.

One of his friends, seeing him unconscious, jumped down and attempted to move him off the live line with his foot, shouting "he's my boy, he's my boy".

Ms Hepburn says an immediate line and electrical block was requested by a train driver who was in the cab with a trainee after they were alerted by a woman on the platform.

Mr Dockerty, who lived with his girlfriend Kelsey Hall and one-year-old son, was airlifted to hospital but due to the severity of his injuries his life support was switched off.

The coroner said his friends didn't know why he had jumped or fallen onto the tracks, and that it couldn't be seen on CCTV.

"They thought maybe he was doing it to be funny or maybe saw someone he thought was a police officer and bolted," said Ms Hepburn.

'He was described as a bit of a geezer, a jack-the-lad with a heart of gold, who was a good friend to all...'

It was heard Mr Dockerty had been in trouble with the police in the past and at the time of his death was believed to be wanted on a warrant, which had made him "paranoid", particularly when under the influence of alcohol.

During the hearing, it was also suggested he may have been trying to get across to the other side of the tracks.

But Ms Helpburn said no-one knows why he ended up on the railway line.

"I can't say that he jumped or that he fell," she said.

"On balance, he was intoxicated and his thought process may have been impaired and his ability to manoeuvre about.

"I don't know why he was running towards the front of the train, whether to be funny or he was being paranoid.

"This is a case of misadventure - he was trying to do something and it had an unexpected outcome.

"I don't think this was an accident, because he was attempting something that went wrong. I am also satisfied he did not intend to take his own life."

During the inquest, it was heard Mr Dockerty was a freelance tattoo artist, who loved his job, his friends and his family.

"He was very sociable and had a good group of friends," said Ms Hepburn.

"He was described as a bit of a geezer, a jack-the-lad with a heart of gold, who was a good friend to all."

Statements from his friends who were with him on the day of his death described him as a "charmer" and a "good lad who was the loudest person in any room".

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