Mystery of Brit tourist plunging to his death in 2am Benidorm hotel balcony fall

Lewis Cooper, an amateur football coach from Basingstoke, died after falling from his hotel balcony in Benidorm with his family saying "he had everything to live for", an inquest heard

A Brit tourist died after falling from his hotel balcony in Benidorm with his family saying "he had everything to live for", an inquest heard.

Amateur football coach Lewis Cooper suffered the mystery 2am plunge from the second storey after returning from a night out, a coroner was told. The 28 year old had put a chair against the balcony railing and stepped from there onto the seven centimetre handrail, according to forensic evidence gathered by Spanish police.

Recording a death by misadventure, senior Hampshire coroner Christopher Wilkinson said he could not explain why Mr Cooper had stepped onto the railing. But he did rule out suicide, saying there was 'nothing to indicate' that Mr Cooper from Basingstoke had intended to take his own life.

"What can't be explained is how or why he steps on the chair," Mr Wilkinson said. "There is no evidence that there were any difficulties in his life and I suspect that given the close friends and family he had he would have explained those to others. There is nothing that would indicate that Lewis took his own life."

The inquest held in Winchester heard that Mr Cooper had organised a group holiday to the Spanish resort for the last four or five years. He had watched the football and then gone bar-hopping with friends on the second day of his holiday to Benidorm in September last year.

At some point during the night he became separated from his friends and he returned to the hotel with Lucy Quilter whom he had met at the pool earlier in the day. Giving evidence at the inquest Ms Quilter said she helped Mr Cooper to his room and at around 2am, about 20 minutes after she left Mr Cooper's room, her cousin heard a noise which turned out to be Mr Cooper's fall.

A fellow holidaymaker, with first aid training from a lifeguarding course, managed to revive Mr Cooper at the scene before the paramedics arrived and tried to reassure him that he would be okay Mr Cooper was taken to Alicante General Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:45 in the morning on September 22, 2023, due to injuries from the fall.

A toxicology report found amphetamine, morphine and benzodiazepine in Mr Cooper's urine but Mr Wilkinson said he could not establish how they had got there and that the morphine and diazepam may have been given after his fall. Mr Wilkinson read out a statement from Mr Cooper's parents, they said he had 'everything to live for' including being the best man at an upcoming wedding.

They said: "Lewis had a big friendship group, all of his friends have said Lewis was the glue that held them together. He had everything to live for, he had started to write his best man speech and was due to start a second football coaching course. As his parents all of us knew how amazing he was."

Giving his conclusion, Mr Wilkinson said: "I am frustrated that I can't provide clear evidence and explain what happened that evening. It is entirely against the grain of who he was and this makes it even harder to reconcile. Sadly, we will never know exactly what Lewis was thinking. He did something desperately dangerous which resulted in his death but that does not change the person you knew. I would like to extend my very sincere condolences, Lewis is someone you should be rightly proud of."