A financier worried about the credit crunch emailed his wife about holiday plans ten minutes before jumping in front of a train at a south Bucks station, an inquest heard.

A statement from Katrina Robinson said husband Ross “Kirk” Stephenson wrote about going away for the weekend before killing himself at Taplow Station on September 25.

Three days before his death Mrs Robinson, who lived with her husband in Chelsea, said the financier – a former manager at one of Amersham’s most prestigious companies - had talked about committing suicide because of the credit crunch.

A First Great Western train driver today described the moment he saw the 47-year-old sprint off the platform and stand in front of the 125mph Intercity train at 9am.

In a statement read to today’s inquest in Amersham she said: “During the time I knew Ross he has never had any serious illnesses and never had any mental health problems.”

She said his job, chief operating officer at private equity firm Olivant, was “high pressured” but one he “easily coped with”.

Mrs Robinson, a journalist, said: “He was a hard working rational, cheerful person who enjoyed life to the full.”

Yet she said her husband, who was born in New Zealand and loved opera, changed as the credit crunch began to bite.

She said: “When the banking system started to collapse, Ross became very tense and worried about a lot of things he had worked hard for.

“He was slowly getting more worried and on Monday 22nd September came home for dinner.

“He looked very stressed and he mentioned he thought of killing himself over the credit crunch but he could not do it because he loved me and the child too much.”

On the morning of the 25th he kissed her and the child and left at 7.45am.

She said: “Nothing in his manner that morning gave me any cause for concern.”

She added: “We had no problems. The only worry was losing money with the credit crunch.

“Before the banking crisis the subject of harming himself has never been discussed and would be totally out of character for Ross.”

Train driver Iain Bassett said he saw a “respectable” looking Mr Stephenson on the platform wearing a dark suit and carrying a newspaper or briefcase.

He told today’s inquest: “He dropped what he was carrying, sprinted to the edge of the platform, threw his arms out and jumped clear of the platform and landed on his feet between the running rails.”

He added: “He then turned and faced the train. He wasn’t looking at me.”

Mr Bassett said he immediately sounded the horn and applied the emergency brakes and “there was nothing else I could do”.

He said he was surprised the train stopped after a mile as this would usually be about a mile and a quarter.

He said: “As the train approached him he didn’t try to get out of the way but he did fall backwards as if readying himself for the impact of the train.”

The train driver said his last view of Mr Stephenson was when he raised his legs.

He said: “At that point I turned away”.

No CCTV was available of the incident which was “one of those things that happens” because of powers surges, for example, said David Humphryes of British Transport Police.

Mr Humphryes, who took Mrs Robinson’s statement, said Mr Stephenson stood to suffer a “considerable financial loss” from the credit crunch.

Coroner Richard Hulett said Mr Stephenson was “at ease with himself and prosperous”.

He said the “rapid” changes in the financial markets had clearly made a “substantial impact on his attitude to life and his fearfulness for his financial welfare”.

There were “real risks that were now threatening him and his family’s lifestyle”.

The email was a “very curious thing to have occurred” just 10 minutes before his death, he said.

He told jurors: “I am at a slight loss, as I am sure you are, as to why this email was sent”.

Recording a verdict that Mr Stephenson killed himself Mr Hulett said: “There is nothing useful I can add to any of that.”

A post mortem showed Mr Stephenson was healthy and a drink and drugs test on the body proved negative.

Mr Stephenson was the former financial director of Amersham International PLC, a leading health science company, involved in medical diagnostic and pharmaceutical research.

He had worked at the company during the 1990s.

The business is now part of GE Healthcare, which has its global headquarters in Chalfont St Giles. Amersham International itself had been based in Amersham Place, Little Chalfont.

Mr Stephenson's previous positions included: COO and MD of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; former Group Finance Director of Coats Viyella PLC and Amersham International PLC; and investment banker at Warburg and Morgan Stanley.