A schizophrenic who had slit his wrists the day before, died after apparently jumping into the path of a van on the A40, an inquest heard.

Oxford Coroner's Court was told yesterday that 20-year-old Stuart Bell, of Cow Lane, Grove, was hit by driver Barry Freeman at around 11.30pm on November 23 last year, on a stretch of the dual carriageway near Forest Hill.

Mr Freeman, a mechanic from Headington, Oxford, told the court he and his colleague Leigh Rogers were on their way to a depot at Milton Common to deal with a broken-down vehicle when the incident happened. He said: "As we approached the exit of the Forest Hill layby, this figure just appeared and I collided with it.

"It appeared to me that he jumped, though I couldn't be sure.

"It happened that quickly there was nothing I could have done."

Steven Rimmer, a security guard who lives in Forest Hill, was walking home when the accident happened.

He called the emergency services, but Mr Bell had suffered serious head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement, Mr Bell's GP said his patient had been diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago and had a history of self-harming.

He had been referred from Littlemore Hospital to the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford, on November 22 to be treated for self-inflicted cuts to his wrists, but had discharged himself.

Staff nurse Oliver Balicao, who treated Mr Bell's cuts at the John Radcliffe, said they were superficial wounds that he did not believe had been intended to be fatal.

Nicholas Rose, a psychiatrist with the Vale Community Mental Health Team, said Mr Bell had been receiving treatment for his mental health problems but this was sometimes undermined by him smoking cannabis and occasionally forgetting to take the medicine prescribed to him.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded an open verdict, saying it could not be proved conclusively that Mr Bell had intended to take his life.

But he added that he was "quite satisfied" that there was nothing Mr Freeman could have done to avoid the collision.