Brit football coach died after drunk fall from Benidorm hotel balcony

An amateur football coach died on holiday after a drunken fall from his hotel balcony in Benidorm.

An inquest heard today that project manager Lewis Cooper, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, suffered the mystery 2am plunge from the second storey after returning from a night out.

Senior Hampshire coroner Christopher Wilkinson ruled out suicide, with Mr Cooper's parents adding the 'amazing' 28-year-old had 'everything to live for' including being the best man at an upcoming wedding.

Mr Cooper had put a chair against the balcony railing and used it to step onto the seven centimetre handrail, according to forensic evidence gathered by Spanish police.

Recording a death by misadventure, senior Hampshire coroner Christopher Wilkinson emphasised to his loved ones that he was 'someone you should be rightly proud of'.

The coroner ruled out suicide, saying there was 'nothing to indicate' that Mr Cooper had intended to take his own life, but said he could not explain why Mr Cooper had stepped onto the railing.

'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 town for the last four or five years.

The hearing was told he watched the football and then went bar-hopping with friends on the second day of the getaway last September.

At some point during the night he became separated from his friends and he returned to the Hotel Perla with Lucy Quilter who he 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 ok.

Read More

Family searching for answers over how Brit, 21, died in Benidorm after inconclusive post-mortem

Mr Cooper was taken to Alicante General Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:45 in the morning on Friday September 22, 2023, due to his 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, who said: 'Lewis had a big friendship group, all of his friends have said Lewis was the glue that held them together.

'He had an old head on his shoulders and was mature beyond his years. If someone was going to do something silly, it would never be Lewis.

'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.'