Intoxicated woman died after fall from 11th floor
AMOTHER-OF-THREE who died more than a week after plummeting from the 11th floor of a Birmingham city centre tower block, died accidentally, a coroner has ruled.
Bianca Martina Golbourne-Thomas, who was 25, was more than twoand-a-half times the drink drive limit and had taken ecstasy and cocaine, said Louise Hunt, the coroner for Birmingham and Solihull.
The 25-year-old sustained traumatic injuries which led to multiple organ failure in the August 6 fall and she died several days later on August 15.
The inquest at Birmingham Coroner’s Court heard that Miss Golbourne-Thomas, who lived in Oak Court, Lee Bank, had gone to her boyfriend Michael Joyce’s 11th floor flat in Cleveland Tower, overlooking Holloway Head, just after midnight on August 6.
Miss Golbourne-Thomas had arrived at the flat with a bottle of vodka which she continued to drink and the inquest heard from Mr Joyce that she was ‘tipsy’.
Mr Joyce said the pair had been a couple for eight months. He said on the night she fell, Miss GolbourneThomas was ‘drunk more than usual’.
“We ate some food and we were chilling and watching TV. She was drinking,” he said. “She said she was going to see her daughter and I thought she was joking because of how drunk she was. I thought she was OK and she went to sit on the balcony, we would usually sit out there.
“I was getting a cigarette and trying to get her to come in as it was cold and then I heard a noise like a bang. I stepped out and Bianca wasn’t there. The chair had moved. I callled 999 and I thought she might have fell off.”
But witness Brian Suffolk told the hearing he saw Bianca fall from the tower block after hearing the couple argue. He said he heard foul language when he went his car at around midnight.
Det Insp Vanessa Eyles, of West Midlands Police, said Mr Joyce was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but was later released.
She added: “There was no indication of a struggle.”
Ms Hunt said she had heard two very different accounts.
She told the inquest : “In the absence of any other evidence and because she was under the influence of alcohol, I sadly think she may have fallen. The balcony did not show any signs of a disturbance and there is no evidence of an argument taking place.
“She had inadvertently backwards while intoxicated.” fallen