Missing lawyer fell to his death from cruise ship balcony
A TOP lawyer died after plunging into the sea from the balcony of his cabin during a cruise, a judge has found.
Nigel Blythe-Tinker, 72, the former head of legal at betting giants William Hill, had gone missing while on board in the Mediterranean.
London’s High Court heard the alarm was raised when Mr Blythe Tinker, also formerly chairman of Ladbrokes’ parent company GVC Holdings (now Entain), failed to disembark at Barcelona.
He had been on the Seven Seas Mariner liner when it left Marseille the previous day in July last year.
His family made “desperate attempts” to contact him and crew found his cabin empty with his “clothes folded neatly on the bed”.
Sophie Blythe-Tinker brought the case to seek clarity over the fate of her father. Having heard legal evidence, judge Chief Master Karen Shuman declared that he died after falling feet first into the sea from his balcony in the early hours.
The court heard that Mr Blythe-Tinker, originally from Worksop, Notts, had been married three times and has two adult daughters, Sophie and Claire Blythe-Tinker.
He was moving back to England from Australia when he chose to go on a luxury cruise of the Mediterranean.
The court heard Mr Blythe-Tinker had been in “constant contact” with his family when he began to send messages in which he “wasn’t himself”. They contacted the ship and a doctor was sent to check on him.
But he said Mr Blythe-Tinker had “no suicidal thoughts” and was physically well apart from back pain. Mr Blythe-Tinker’s teacher daughter Sophie told the judge her father had revealed worries to his cousin Andrew Gilling about having enough money to complete a house renovation in England. He had told his cousin he’d had a “suicidal thought” and his daughter said he also seemed confused in messages with other family.
She told the judge he had seemed “strange” in his responses to messages and emails shortly before his disappearance. The court heard the ship’s CCTV showed an object, which appeared to be a person, falling “feet first” from the ship near Mr Blythe-Tinker’s cabin.
Declaring him officially dead, the judge said Mr Blythe-Tinker had been “an active 72-year-old” who “travelled extensively”.
However, he “wasn’t himself” and had became “increasingly abnormal” during his time on the ship, she said.
The judge concluded: “I have viewed the video evidence. Something descends from the ship at 4.28am. I’m prepared to accept that that was a body and the direction is consistent with it coming from the suite Mr Blythe-Tinker was in.
“I’m satisfied on the evidence before me that Mr Blythe-Tinker died at 4.28 central European time by falling to his death from the ship that he was on.”