Man lay dead for 4 days after Lake District mountain plunge
A senior banker who died after falling from a 950-metre-high mountain in the Lake District lay undiscovered for four days.
Michael Flanagan, 45, the head of foreign exchange institutional sales at National Australia Bank, was discovered at the bottom of Helvellyn after his hotel realised he had failed to check out.
The tragedy occurred on 8 January 2015 when Michael took a taxi from the Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa, Bowness, to Swirls Car Park, at Thirlmere.
He headed out for a walk on his own, and left a note at the hotel with his name and contact number in case of an emergency.
They agreed that someone would call him at 5.30pm if he had not returned.
Nobody from the hotel did call him, and the fact he was missing was only discovered on 11 January, when he failed to check out of his room.
However, at an inquest this week, David Roberts, senior coroner for Cumbria, said he was convinced the injuries sustained in the fall meant he had died on that day, and notifying emergency services would have made no difference.
According to the Mirror, Mr Roberts said: "I can't be sure what happened but given where he was found it is likely he has gone to the edge to look down at the view or look for a route down and fallen through the snow down the slope.
"That is a matter of speculation but perfectly plausible."
Speaking at Cockermouth Coroner's Court, his widow Sarah Kinsley said her husband had called shortly before his death to tell her about his achievement of scaling the mountain for the first time.
According to the Daily Mail, she said: "He seemed fine, not out of breath and was very pleased with himself that he had done it. He said it had been hailing and cold and that he was in a shelter."
A huge team of 62 rescuers and eight dogs were involved in the search for Mr Flanagan.
His body was discovered by a group from the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team.
Mr Flanagan's friend Roger Hart, who described him as a "true gentleman", has set up a JustGiving page in Michael's memory in a bid to raise money for the rescue organisation.
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