Father's drunk balcony death fall

Christopher and Clair Riley were staying at the Sandbanks Hotel

A student has told how he tried to stop his father falling to his death from a fourth-floor hotel balcony in Dorset.

Christopher Riley, 43, was "really drunk" and had taken cocaine before he fell 40ft (12m) at the luxury Sandbanks Hotel in Poole, an inquest has heard.

His son Nicholas, 24, said he found him hanging on to the rail after trying to jump between balconies but was unable to reach him and "couldn't get a grip".

Coroner Sheriff Payne said the death, on 6 September, was an accident.

Mr Riley's son told Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset Coroner's Court he had gone to bed, leaving his father on the balcony.

He said: "I had just dozed off just before he started shouting, 'Nicky, help!'

'Inappropriate behaviour'

"I ran on to the balcony and he was hanging from the rail of his [separate] balcony.

"I couldn't reach him."

The inquest heard how Mr Riley had tried to climb around a dividing wall between their rooms after locking himself out of his room.

Nicholas Riley said he had tried to get access to the balcony by kicking in the door of his father's room.

He added:"The door was solid, so I ran back into my room, climbed over the balcony, I grabbed hold of him, but he was too heavy and he was a bit sweaty too, so I couldn't get a grip."

The father-of-three, from Bognor Regis, West Sussex, fell about 40ft, hitting a balcony on the way down.

A post-mortem examination showed he suffered multiple injuries, including rib fractures, which had punctured his lungs.

Sheriff Payne said: "Mr Riley was nearly three times the legal limit for driving and [had taken] some cocaine, which the toxicologist said was equivalent to mild use.

"Both of these drugs are consistent with inappropriate behaviour and poor decision-making."

He said that although he was a scaffolder he had not worked at any height for some time and would normally have been working "free of alcohol intoxication".

"This has brought a happy family weekend to a tragic close," the coroner added.