Saddle club star dies

[Guest]

I wasn't sure if anyone posted a topic about her death.

I'm sure most of you use to watch the saddle club when you were kids

Jessie played Melanie Atwood Lisa's younger sister.

THE family of The Saddle Club's Jessica Jacobs were left stunned after being told her train track death "was not an accident".

Kids' TV star Jessica Jacobs, 17, an emerging stage and screen actress and musician, was killed on a shopping trip to buy her brother Adam a birthday present.

She was due to meet him when she slipped from the platform and was hit by a train.

In pictures: The all-too short life of Jessica Jacobs

The family have been told Jessica tripped and fell on to railway lines at Cheltenham in Melbourne about noon on Saturday - but were left bemused and shaken when a station worker bizarrely told them it was not an accident.

That claim has been denied by police, but it is unclear why it was made.

Police took several hours to find the family because the teenager, who was arriving home from an overnight stay with a friend, was carrying fake ID.

Jessica, known as Jessie to her friends, was well known in the world of children's television, also starring in Worst Best Friends, Fergus McPhail and Holly's Heroes.

She also appeared in live productions, including the Sound of Music with Bert Newton and Lisa McCune.

Jessica, a gifted violinist and bassist, had planned to join the Victorian College of the Arts next year to establish herself as a musician.

Adam Jacobs, 24, said his sister had been destined to succeed in the entertainment industry.

But he said the family had been distressed by a rail worker who had told people, including them, Jessica's death was not an accident.

Victoria Police investigators, however, have told the family Jessica stumbled as she walked along the platform.

Mr Jacobs said his stepfather and mother visited the station to view a makeshift shrine to Jessica when a woman working at the station told them it was not an accident.

"My stepfather had asked what had happened," he said. "This lady said: 'It was not an accident'."

When he asked her if she was pushed, she said, "no".

"My mum overheard all of this. She is so traumatised by it. It's unacceptable," Mr Jacobs said.

He said his sister was preparing to celebrate her 18th birthday in November and was planning to move out of home. "She was planning to move in with me," he said. "Jessie wanted to be a musician, that was her life. I believed she was going to succeed."

Apart from her older brother, Adam, Jessica also had two younger brothers, Seth, 14, and Charlie, two.

Jessica will be farewelled by more than 400 people in St Kilda today and a horse-drawn carriage will carry her body from Holy Trinity Church to St Kilda Cemetery.

A report on her death will be prepared by the Coroner.

[ness]

I know it's so sad 17 is way too young! and what a horrible way to die I used to watch the saddle club all the time when I was little Jess must have only been about 9 when she was on. She was really good! that pic isnt actually of her though... that's the girl who played her friend. This is her when she was on the saddle club (the one on the left)

[Guest]

I know it's so sad 17 is way too young! and what a horrible way to die I used to watch the saddle club all the time when I was little Jess must have only been about 9 when she was on. She was really good! that pic isnt actually of her though... that's the girl who played her friend. This is her when she was on the saddle club (the one on the left)

thanks

I deleted the pic

[Jen]

This is totally horrible. I used to watch the Saddle Club and saw her in Holly's Heroes too. I was really sad to hear this happened.

[Samu]

That's so tragic. I used to be Saddle Club obsessed when I was in primary school and I remember her playing Lisa's little sister.