Young footballer died in 60ft holiday fall
INQUEST HEARS OF SHOCKING TRAGEDY DURING BOOZY LADS’ TRIP TO BENIDORM
A TALENTED young footballer died after falling 60ft from an apartment block during a lads’ holiday to Benidorm, an inquest heard.
Michael Jones, 21, had only been in the resort for a day when he suffered serious head injuries after falling backwards from a railing on the fourth floor.
The popular gas engineer, from Little Lever, Bolton, had left a bar earlier that night and gone back to the Apartamentos Vina Del Mar alone.
He was thought to have been waiting on the landing of the block for his friends to return, as he did not have a key.
An inquest into his death heard that Michael had started drinking the previous day while still in the UK, celebrating England’s win against Columbia in the World Cup in July.
When they arrived in the resort, Michael and his friends met up with others who were already there, and carried on drinking all day and into the evening.
There were no witnesses to Michael’s death. He was found the following morning at the foot of the building, in a maintenance courtyard.
His devastated friends discovered what had happened when police knocked on the apartment door.
Michael’s childhood friend Matthew Thomas told the inquest, held at North Manchester Coroners’ Court on Friday, that the friends had arrived in Benidorm in the early hours of Wednesday, July 4.
He described how they had been ‘drinking pretty much since Tuesday tea time,’ during the England match, and throughout their time in the resort.
He last spoke to Michael in a bar, checking on him after he went to sit alone to take a moment for himself, which was something he often did. Michael, a talented footballer since his youth, fell to his death at this spot
Matthew told the hearing that although the group had had a lot to drink, Michael hadn’t drunk so much that he was unwell.
He said: “If he had been like that we would have looked after him.”
Following his death, Michael’s family travelled to Benidorm to visit the apartment block. His dad Paul has shared with the M.E.N photos he took of the railings Michael fell from, which he says are about three and a half feet high.
The Heywood hearing heard that Michael had on occasion suffered from low mood and could struggle with his temper.
In 2015 he deliberately drove his car into a tree in what he later told medics was a ‘spur of the moment’ act.
But coroner Catherine McKenna said she was satisfied that Michael’s death was in no way intentional.
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Ms KcKenna said: “The evidence suggests he had fallen backwards from a stairwell while waiting for friends to come to the apartment.
“It is likely that a degree of intoxication would have impaired Michael’s balance.
“It’s clear to me that Michael was a talented and popular young man. It is obvious he is very loved and deeply missed.”
Former Little Lever High School pupil Michael had been playing in the first team at Bolton-based Little Lever Sports Club in the Lancashire Amateur League. He had also had spells with academies at Manchester United, Bury and Accrington, and had represented his home town, playing for the Bolton Town team.
Following the’s inquest, Paul paid tribute to his ‘well mannered, polite and kindhearted’ son, who had a passion for football.
He said: “There is not a day goes by that Michael is not desperately missed by his family and friends. The pain that has been and is being felt by all is almost unbearable. “Though he will be absent from future memories, memories yet to be made, Michael remains a wonderful son, brother and so much more and will always be in our hearts. We count the seconds, minutes and hours ever since Michael left us. “Michael was such a wonderful person to be around. Sleep well son.”