Man plunged to his death from balcony

An inquest heard how the tragedy occurred while Darren Bowen was being shown around the now closed 70-year-old nursing hall of residence at Manchester Royal Infirmary by his girlfriend last April.

Darren, of Roch Crescent, Whitefield, fell 25 feet and sustained massive head injuries after a steel rail collapsed.

After deputy coroner David Horsley recorded a verdict of accidental death, retired schoolteacher Anthony Bowen blamed Central Manchester Health Care Trust for his son's death.

Mr Bowen said: "If the building had been in a state of proper repair, Darren would have been alive today."

The family said the evidence "absolutely refuted" initial reports that Darren had been "larking about and taking part in a daredevil stunt". During the day-long hearing in Manchester, Mr Horsley rapped the Trust for the "low level" of maintenance over the last few years.

"If the building had still been occupied," said the coroner "I would have given consideration to writing to the Trust that action should be taken to prevent a recurrence of what happened to Darren".

The inquest heard from Health and Safety expert Stewart Eddy that the balcony was unsafe, five of the six fixtures were insecure.

Darren, it was said, had been out for most of the day drinking with his girl friend Clare Gibson. They consumed about eight pints of beer, plus wine and several shorts.

Nurse Miss Gibson said she was showing Darren around the building and they were in the post room when Darren climbed through a partially open window on to a balcony.

Miss Gibson said: "Darren was on the balcony for about a minute when I heard a grating sound. I looked over and he wasn't there", she said.

Miss Gibson said they were "merry and happy. But Darren was not drunk. He could take a few pints."

Another witness Karen Reid, a student nurse, saw the death fall. She said Darren had been rattling the rail with both hands. "He was rocking backwards and forwards and seemed to be putting a lot of effort into what he was doing," claimed the witness.

Barrister Sarah Spear, for the family, accused the Trust of gross negligence and urged the coroner to return a verdict of unlawful killing.

Mr Horsley rejected the submission saying: "Inadequate steps were taken to prevent the situation but I think it was inadvertence rather than gross negligence."

Earlier, estates manager Keith Snowden said windows had been restricted to open no more than 12 inches and what had been described as a balcony was an architectural feature to break up the plainness of the building.

The Trust contended the building was safe and that Darren would have had to contort himself to have got through the 12 inch gap.

Speaking later at their home in Alexander Drive, Unsworth, Darren's parents paid tribute to their "bright and inquisitive" son.

Mr Bowen, who taught at Mersey Drive CP School and was deputy headteacher at Fairfield CP before his retirement, said: "Darren was very intelligent, bright and inquisitive. His friends have said that he was the leader and they are now lost without him."

A former Castlebrook High School pupil, Darren worked for United Advertising, a car sales magazine based at Old Trafford.