Father fell 100 feet to his death

Gary Martin, a painter and decorator from Leeds, was discovered on the ground outside the Castillo De Sol hotel in Gran Canaria by his partner's distraught 17-year old daughter Sammy Butterfield at around 7am on January 1.

Mr Martin had been out celebrating the end of the decade with a group of friends and family.

Leeds Coroner's Court was told the 33-year-old would have died instantly after falling from the sixth floor of the hotel.

Coroner David Hinchliff attributed the tragic death to a desire to smoke before he called it a night.

The family man had a fear of lifts so severe he preferred to climb the 99 steps to the sixth floor, where he and his family were staying.

It was on this floor, where there was a 5ft 7in high balcony wall in the hallway outside the rooms, that it is suspected Mr Martin, who was 5ft 9in, made the fatal decision to have a quick cigarette before going into his room.

The inquest was told he was taking a two-week holiday with his long-term partner Norma Saddington, 49, their eight-year-old son Jason, Ms Saddington's daughter Sammy and a group of close friends and family.

"What started as an extremely pleasant and convivial holiday as a family, enjoying a New Year's Eve celebration, has turned out to become the most appalling of tragedies," Mr Hinchliff said.

"It seems possible that, as a smoker, he decided to have a smoke before he turned in and elevated himself on to the wall. He might not have appreciated how high up he was.

"It is unlikely that he would have just fallen by standing next to the wall, because of its height. The likelihood is that he would have elevated himself up."

The group of family and friends had gone out for a meal before heading on to a bar where they watched the midnight fireworks.

Ms Saddington, Mr Martin's partner of 14 years, left with Sammy shortly after New Year had struck to take the couple's young son Jason back to the hotel.

After putting him to bed, Sammy locked the youngster and her mother in their room, before rejoining Mr Martin at the bar and handing him the key. She then left him to spend the rest of the night with some friends.

The last person to see Mr Martin was close friend Tony Grant, who was staying at a hotel opposite and parted ways with him at around 3am.

In a written statement read to the court, he said: "We had had a good drink but none of us were what you might say falling down drunk. There was nothing that gave us any cause for concern."

CCTV cameras caught Mr Martin returning at around 3:20am, but it wasn't until Sammy returned at around 7am that the grim discovery of his body was made.

In a written statement, she said: "When I got back to the apartment I knocked on the door but Mum could not let me in because Gary had not been back with the key."

Sammy attempted to call Mr Martin and heard his mobile phone ringing at ground level. She then looked over the sixth floor balcony and spotted him lying on the ground below.

"I looked over the balcony and saw Gary lying on the paving at the bottom of the balcony," she said. "I ran down but he was lifeless."

Her screams woke Ms Saddington, who had to clamber over the neighbour's balcony with Jason to get out of the locked apartment.

In a written statement, she said: "I went down the stairs and Sammy came to see me and said it was Gary and he looked as if he had fallen. I suspect he could have leaned over the wall for a cigarette."

Histopathologist Lisa Barker said the fall left Mr Martin with multiple injuries, including brain damage, that would have killed him instantly.

Recording an open verdict, the coroner added: "It looks very much like an accidental event, there's no evidence to suggest anyone wanted to cause him harm."

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Martin's brother Paul, 39, said: "It was nice to get a bit of closure, because that was the first time we've really been told what happened to Gary.

"The only thing that didn't make sense was how exactly he fell over the wall and, if he did climb on to it, why? The only person who knows that is Gary.

"He was a lovely lad and a great dad who would've done anything for his son."