Tragedy of Alderman who slipped
A RESPECTED Alderman died on his front doorstep after he slipped and fell.
Mark Rae, 57, was getting a door key out of his pocket when he lost his balance, an inquest heard.
It is believed Mr Rae, described as a ‘much-loved larger than life character’ hit his head on a handrail.
He suffered a fatal bleed on the brain in the fall and his body was found nine hours later the following morning by bin men.
Experts believe Mr Rae, who had been drinking wine and beer but was not drunk, may have slipped on the steps due to him wearing shoes with smooth soles.
He had been a leading Freemason and was an Alderman in Altrincham.
The accident on March 13 occurred just a day after Mr Rae, a former catering firm boss based at the town’s Conservative Club, had returned from a weekend away in Paris where he had attended an event for Knights Templar Catholic military order of which he was also a member.
He went for dinner at the Unicorn pub in Altrincham with a female friend and the accident occurred moments after a taxi dropped him off outside his first floor flat in the town at the end of the evening.
Mr Rae’s dining companion, Diane Hart, told a Stockport inquest: “That night, he was absolutely fine and had had a lovely weekend in Paris. We sat chatting and then booked a taxi for about 11pm. The taxi dropped him off first as we always did and then me after.”
Doctors said there were no significant abnormalities in Mr Rae’s health. A toxicology report showed he had alcohol in his system – but was not of a high enough level for him to be intoxicated. The cause of death was a brain haemorrhage with a post mortem test saying it was consistent with him having a fall and sustaining brain bleed as result.
Pc Rita Wilkinson told the hearing: “Mr Rae lived in a first-floor flat – the position he was in was at his front door, on two concrete steps with a hand rail. It was as if he had come off these steps with a mark on his head.”
Recording a conclusion of ‘accident,’ coroner Christopher Morris said: “The conclusion of the findings are that his death was a tragic accident.”