Man who had 20 beers leaps off seventh-floor hotel balcony after having a 'minor argument' with his girlfriend
A British father jumped to his death from a hotel balcony after an allegedly "minor" argument with his girlfriend. 26-year-old Richard Pike was bickering with his girlfriend after consuming 20 bottled beers and 15 shots before he dived off the seventh-floor hotel balcony in Majorca, The Sun reports.
Richard reportedly had a tendency to act impulsively after suffering from stress and emotional instability. The 26-year-old, who hailed from Devon, had been drinking for over 18 hours when he jumped out of the balcony.
His girlfriend Abigail Russell, told an inquest at Exeter's County Hall how she witnessed the disturbing incident unfold as they were vacationing in Majorca. According to her, the father-of-three was "really excited about the holiday" as they flew from Bristol airport in July last year.
But Richard became "very drunk" after watching an England football match on TV at their hotel in Porto Cristo. Abigail recalled they started "bickering about something silly" before Richard stepped out of the hotel and she returned to their room.
At around 11.45 pm that night, she received a text from him saying he would go "over the balcony" if she wasn't in their hotel room. But when Richard returned to the room, the argument resumed, Abigail said. Then, in a sudden and horrifying moment, she saw Richard run past her and jump over the balcony. "I saw him running straight past me to the balcony, the doors were open and he did not try to stop," she said. "He grabbed the top of the railings and jumped his legs over, causing him to fall."
"What happened was a complete shock," Abigail continued. "It was a minor argument, only a few words were spoken." "He was very drunk," she added. "He had drunk 20 bottles of beer ad 10-15 alcoholic shots."
Richard directly fell onto a parked vehicle downstairs. Emergency services airlifted him to a Palma hospital, to one in Plymouth, before ultimately being taken to his home in Exeter, Devon. Richard never regained consciousness. He died on August 25 from brain trauma.
"Richard Pike died as a consequence of his own actions," Senior Coroner Philip Spinney recorded, but added that "his intentions in doing so are unclear."