German man's death on the A3(M) was a '˜tragic accident' inquest hears

Alexander Kaiser died on the evening of June 5 when he was hit by a blue VW Polo after he ran into the northbound carriageway of the A3(M), in Horndean.

But today an inquest into the 35-year-old’s death revealed he had been acting ‘erratically’ for weeks after a swelling on his brain – suspected to be a brain tumour – developed in April.

The hearing at Portsmouth’s Coroner’s Court heard from Mr Kaiser’s friend Sue De Plain, who said he was due to undergo a biopsy when he died.

Mrs De Plain was contacted by Mr Kaiser after he flew from his home in Westerwald, Germany, to Heathrow on the afternoon of his death.

She described how her friend had been ‘agitated’ and ‘stressed’ when she picked him up and was telling her how he ‘wanted to change his life’.

Soon after arriving at Mrs De Plain’s Havant home, the pair went for a walk in Havant Thicket where Mr Kaiser’s mental state took a disturbing turn.

‘He just went insane, he was running up and down and he kept hitting me on the back,’ she told the court.

She added Mr Kaiser told her his relationship with his long-term girlfriend in Germany was failing and that he had lied to her about his three-day trip to England, claiming it was for business.

The pair returned to Mrs De Plain’s home where the situation worsened after Mr Kaiser called his girlfriend.

Mrs de Plain’s husband Andy said he called 111 for help, adding: ‘He was manic and we didn’t know what to do.’

In a bid to calm him down, a tearful Mrs De Plain said she tried to drive him to a hotel where he could stay,

But while on the A3(M), Mr Kaiser unexpectedly lashed out, twice yanking at the steering wheel of her car, leaving her in fear of her life.

As she slowed the car, he fled. Mrs De Plain returned minutes later with her husband and found her friend by the road, swinging his coat.

The couple coxed him back in the car but again, Mr Kaiser lashed out, kicking doors and windows before escaping.

He ran across the motorway and was hit by a car driven by Havant man Melvin Paul, who was driving to Aldershot, who attempted to swerve and avoid him.

The inquest heard that Mr Paul had ‘insufficient time ‘ to avoid hitting him.

Coroner David Horsley concluded Mr Kaiser’s death was ‘a tragic accident’.

He said: ‘It seems that he did have some underlying problem which had recently caused his behaviour to become extremely erratic.

‘It was a nightmare situation that you had to go through. But honestly. I don’t think you could have done things any differently.

‘His behaviour throughout the day had been so strange, bizarre in fact, that I don’t think that he knew what he was doing.

‘How he managed to get across on a plane I don’t know either. His behaviour was obviously out of character and became more and more bizarre as time went on.

‘Alex was in a very confused state and I don’t think he was aware that a car was approaching. I’m not even sure he was aware he was running across a motorway.

‘So looking at that I have to conclude that this was a tragic accident.’