An eight-year-old girl died after she was knocked over by a boy playing British Bulldog in the playground, an inquest has heard.

Freya James was hit by the pupil as he ran at speed, and she fell on to a recycled railway sleeper, a jury at West London Coroner’s Court heard.

She had not been involved in the game, during a lunch break at Trafalgar junior school in Twickenham, south-west London, on 14 February this year.

Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield told the jury: “At about 1.15pm, there was a collision between a boy who was playing Bulldog, and Freya. They were in different years, and may well not even have known each other to talk to. As a result, she fell, and in falling struck one of the sleepers in the playground.”

Freya walked to the first aid room, and an ambulance was called, arriving at the West Middlesex University Hospital at 2pm. She died two hours later. A postmortem examination showed injuries to her liver and spleen consistent with blunt force trauma. The inquest continues.

PA