Family in tribute to student after crane death fall
A ‘FEARLESS’ student fell to his death after climbing a 30ft crane in Manchester city centre following a night out, an inquest heard.
Charlie Bartlett was found dead by construction workers at the former BBC site off Oxford Road in May last year.
The 19-year-old, from Wimbledon in London, had been to the University of Manchester’s Owens Park Ball at The Principal hotel before going to nearby nightclub Sound Control.
Speaking at his inquest at Manchester town hall, friends described how first-year student Charlie had been in good spirits on the night of Saturday, May 6, and left the club alone just after midnight.
Sylvie Copley told the court her friend had drunk alcohol and had taken ketamine, but didn’t appear intoxicated.
On the way back to his flat in Fallowfield, Charlie was filmed on CCTV going onto the building site and climbing the crane. He fell to his death at around 2am.
The alarm was raised the next day, when Charlie’s friends noticed he hadn’t been in touch.
They contacted his family and flatmates, who checked in his room before a search was launched. Charlie’s body was found by builders just before 8am on Monday, May 8.
His uncle Harry Bartlett told the inquest how his nephew climbed the roof of the Odeon cinema in Wimbledon while he was at school.
Ms Copley told the court Charlie had talked about scaling the former Toast Rack building in Fallowfield.
Mr Bartlett said Charlie was extremely bright, achieving a ‘plethora’ of A*s at GCSE and excellent A-level results.
He had a talent for computing and coding, and had once managed to hack into his school’s IT system.
Charlie had plans to work in the intelligence services when he graduated, the court heard.
A pathology report by Dr Lucy Foster found that Charlie died from multiple injuries, including a ruptured aorta and a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
He had a concentration of 192mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system, a toxicology report found.
There was also traces of citalopram, ketamine and cocaine in his system.
Dr Julie Evans’ report concluded that the amount of drugs and alcohol Charlie had consumed would have been ‘unlikely to [have led] to direct fatality,’ but said it could have an had an effect on his state of mind and behaviour.
Coronor Zak Golombek concluded that Charlie’s death was accidental and that he died from multiple injuries.
He said Charlie had a ‘fearless’ side, but was someone who ‘took precautions when necessary.’
“I don’t have any evidence that the alcohol consumed or his drug use were directly involved in the fall,” he said.
“I have heard evidence from family and friends that he wasn’t someone who took risks in relation to his own life.”
Speaking after the inquest, Charlie’s uncle Mr Bartlett said: “Charlie was greatly loved by his family and many friends.
“He would always help others that needed support.
“He gave his spare change to the homeless.
“He was very intelligent, but very humble. He lived life to the full.”